Devotionals

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Busy… Hmmm…??? Now this is a word that is probably used more in this generation than all other generations combined! I mean… Think about it? When asked how someone is doing? What’s the standard answer? I’m busy… When they can’t spend time with friends or family? Answer: I’m busy… When they can’t return our phone calls? Answer: I’m busy… When they can’t keep a commitment? Answer: I’m busy… When they don’t respond back to our emails? Answer: I’m busy… We have programmed ourselves to believe that this is the acceptable “status quo.” Because after all…everyone we know is…BUSY!

In a world full of instant coffee, instant pudding, fast food, drive thru, microwave dinners and the list could go on! We have somehow forgotten the beauty of an unexpected, delightful conversation with a neighbor; a surprise phone call and/or visit from a friend; to actually have our schedules free enough, that we can ask them to come in and sit a spell.

We have developed ways that can get our tasks done quicker and easier, so we can have more “free time”…and yet…all it’s done, is give us less. Could it be that “busyness” can be just as addictive as cigarettes? How about alcohol, or maybe prescription drugs? When we realize, that we may have a moment, where we have time to do nothing…somehow…we scurry to find something that will keep our “busy” fix satisfied. By adding more busyness.

We complain that we’re too busy to take a vacation, spend time with our kids, our friends, and our relatives. We suggest that we would love to volunteer at our church, but can’t because of our “busy” schedules.

We tend to justify our busyness with excuses like… “But you understand…don’t you God? Surely…you’ve made this world and know that I have to make a living, so I can put a roof over my head. Don’t you? Then of course…I need to put food on the table. And let’s not forget that I need a car to get to work, then another car to impress my friends. Because after all God…I have a “rep” to protect. You understand…don’t you God? Don’t you?”

Or maybe we do volunteer…but we’ve crammed our agendas so full until they look like sardine cans; that we have no time for God and/or for those whom God has placed in our lives. It’s almost like saying…”God…I want you to know that I really love you and want to spend time with you. I care for your people and want to be used by you to bless their lives, but unfortunately, I can’t do anything about it…because I’m just too busy filling my life with “stuff” that reaps absolutely no eternal reward!” Believe it or not…church “stuff”…like volunteering, can have no significant value, if we overload it with so much activity into our schedules, that our efforts lose their effectiveness. Could it be…that we let our “busyness” get in the way of allowing God to use us in the manner in which He sees fit, rather than according to our own agenda and/or desires? It’s much easier to pass the buck! Letting others do, what we don’t want to do? Isn’t it?

If we take His load upon us and not fill our lives with so much “stuff” He never asked us to do in the first place, and spend more time getting to know Him. We would find, that not only would we have the time to finish the worked that has He placed in our hearts to do, but our lives would be much more rewarding and fulfilling. We wouldn’t be so worn out and tired all the time.

The scriptures says in Matthew 11:29, that the Lord admonishes us to take His “yoke” upon us, because His “yoke” is easy and His “burden” is light. The Message translations states that Jesus says; “Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me ~ watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Now this sounds like an offer we wouldn’t be able to refuse. Yet we do… Why? If Jesus is offering us a chance to trade our busy, hectic, burdensome, overwhelming schedules, for one that is non-burdensome and just the right fit for us, then why don’t we take Him up on the offer? Why continue living such stressed out lives?

Why are our schedules so full, that if someone dares to try to share a moment with us, we bite their heads off, for being intrusive on our already “busy” hectic lives? As if…they’re the reason our lives have become so “crazy off the charts!” The answer is simple really. Because we haven’t understood, that it’s not the Lord’s yoke we have taken upon us…it’s Satan’s.

Do you know that the true meaning of the word “busy,” lies within it’s spelling? Let me break it down for you. It basically means:

Being

Under

Satan’s

Yoke

When we place and submit our lives under a yoke of “busyness;” are we not basically saying, that we have placed ourselves under Satan’s yoke, instead of God’s? We don’t have time to enjoy and develop the relationships that God has placed in our lives, because we have allowed ourselves to be subjected to Satan’s grueling, taxing, overbearing yoke! It’s a strong truth that’s hard to face…but it doesn’t make it any less true.

Oh! Some of you I can hear it now! Gasping at the very thought of me having the audacity to tell you…my readers, that you have taken upon yourselves Satan’s yoke, instead of Gods! How could I have such nerve? Be so bold? Relentless? As to tell my fellow readers, that they are not sharing in God’s yoke, but Satan’s?

Before a final determination is made…let’s sit back and think about this? Let’s break this down and get down to the raw, bare-bone interpretation, of what all this means. Ask yourself some questions? One… What does yoke mean? Two… What does burden mean? Three… Hey…why not really go out on a limb and ask… What does busy means? Can we be bold enough to do that? You know…find out if, just maybe…we have indeed taken upon Satan’s yoke and that’s why our lives seem so overwhelming?

Okay…now that we have gotten up the nerve to ask the questions, let’s take some time to answer them. Here are Webster’s definitions… Yoke: to become joined or linked. Burden: something oppressive or worrisome. Busy: foolishly or intrusively active, full of distracting detail. Whoa Horsey!!! What do we have here? In a nutshell…we have determined that we have become…”joined or linked with something oppressive or worrisome, by foolishly or intrusively being active; giving ourselves to a life full of distracting details!” Wow! Now I think that this is worth, a well deserved pause break… Don’t you? Why not stop here…go get yourself a soda, some coffee…order a pizza if you want! But take some time to reflect upon the revelation we have just encountered here!

(Pause break… Pour… Gulp… Gulp… Ring… Order pizza… Ding… Dong… Pizza delivered… Chomp… Chomp… Gulp… Ahhhh… Pause break ends…)

Okay…glad to have you back! Have you taken all this in yet? Has the porch light come on? Do you need another moment? Hey…if it was left up to me…you can take all the time you need. But I have other fish, that I need to fry and I am sure…that I have taken way too much time away from your “busy” schedules, as it is. Yeah…okay…so I made a joke. But, if we are honest…isn’t this how we truly feel?

When people want to sit a spell and share their thoughts and/or time with us and our lives are so full, that we feel, that one more activity in our schedules, will make us feel like we just wanna pop! Maybe…it’s a God thing? You know…that interruption? Have we ever thought about the fact, that maybe it was the Lord who sent that individual or circumstance into our lives, to let some of the pressure out of our pots? To give us a “pause break…” Sometimes we have our daily pots filled with so much busyness, that they have become so overloaded; that the steam from the pressure in our lives, are causing our lids, to be just about ready to explode! That’s what Satan’s yoke of busyness will due to us. It never adds anything good to our lives. Just pressure… Ill feelings towards one another, when they really didn’t do anything that terrible. Stressed to the hilt, that we will stay up half the night, worrying about things that need to get done and waking up cranky, complaining that we never have enough time to get any sleep! Whose fault is it anyway? God’s? Our families? Our spouses? Our friends? The dog? No… We have only one person to blame…ourselves.

So…in a sense; we have just summed up our struggling efforts to keep our relationships healthy and our lives stress free. Don’t you agree? If we can muster up enough courage, to take an inner look within our hearts. Can we not admit, that we have fallen into Satan’s trap and yoked ourselves with a burden of “busyness?” Jesus said; that if we took His yoke upon us, it would be easy and light. So what is stopping us? Rather than being weighed down with such a heavy load, that ends up making our moods so unpredictable sometimes, even at the drop of a hat! Putting our relationships in jeopardy. Even to the point of severe dysfunction and/or permanent separation. Why not link up to Jesus, the Savior and Redeemer of our souls, and carry His burden? For it’s not heavy, nor ill fitting…


Written by: Teresa Trotter

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