With holidays and special occasions running parallel to every day priorities, it can become overwhelming to manage life. But it is possible. All of us have said one time or another, “there is just not enough time in a day.” Actually, time is a good thing. I once heard that time is nature’s way of everything not happening at once.

We can become situated with the Lord’s help. When I first entered the preacher training program, I received a packet of information regarding the duties of a preacher. The first recommendation mentioned was to start the day off in prayer. What better way is there to begin a day than with communication with God, the One who directs my paths, making them straight, and protects my feet from stumbling (Proverbs 3:6; Psalm 56:13). We get so distracted with the cares and concerns of this world that we totally neglect the hand of our Helper.

Situations are not to be feared. There is a fearful emotion that takes place either with deadlines or the overwhelming priorities of daily life. I completely understand the feeling of getting behind on things, but there is no reason to fret. When we place aside those fears and ask the Lord to shepherd our every step, we will come out on top. Some may think too far ahead in the future. The time we spend dwelling on our responsibilities, asking ourselves, “how in the world am I going to get this done,” that’s time you could spend taking care of them. We find time for TV and computer entertainment but not time to spend with the Lord and becoming situated.

Situate the time in each day as it comes. Tell me, how in the world can one plan on missing services because of homework or something related to that? That does nothing but shed light on ones’ poor time management skills. I’ll say it again, we can find time to entertain ourselves with modern technology and conversations over the phone, but not spend a couple of hours worshiping God. As I once heard, “we master our minutes, or we become slaves to them; we use time, or time uses us.” In one of my classes, time management was one of the chapters we studied, that is, how a student can coordinate their hours in a day to find time for what needs to be done. Spending time with God is first and foremost; the rest will fall into place.

“How happy are the people who are so situated.” One of the greatest feelings in life is to find yourself satisfied after a day of work is done. It is a blessing, a feeling of happiness, when we have worked hard and were successful doing so. In Psalm 39:5, David said to the Lord, “You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight,” (figuratively speaking that his days are as long as his hands in the Lord’s sight). He meant that, to an eternal God, our time on earth is brief. And He doesn’t want us to waste it. When we do, we throw away one of the most precious commodities He gives us. Each minute is an irretrievable gift—an unredeemable slice of eternity. Sure, time will be spent making phone calls and waiting at traffic lights, but what about the rest of our day? Are we managing it properly? Are we using it to advance the cause of Christ and to enhance our relationship with Him?