To-do lists and proper focus
I read an article long ago, just a few weeks before my mom passed away. It was on time management and stress. It was written for those of us who make lists and live life by accomplishing the things on those lists. Now, everything on my list is important, right? But this article asked the simple question about what things someone else would take from my list and add to theirs to do the day after I died. WOW – what a wake-up thought!
This morning as I write this, there are four hand-written lists as well as a number of items in my email (which I send to myself) to make sure I don’t forget to do. For years, my days were deemed successful if the list was shorter at the end of the day than at the beginning. It took me quite a while to understand the concept of Psalm 41:10, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” God is not looking for my accomplishments, activity or production. It is not my busyness that gets His attention or approval; it is my awe, wonder, praise and exaltation of who He is.
It is God who is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth is shifting (v.1-2). I should rest in who God is and be more concerned with knowing Him than simply doing for Him. Does that mean my lists aren’t important? They remind me of the things I need to do, but my focus is one the greatness of God, and now the reason I work at completing the lists isn’t for approval, but as a steward of the One who has done all things for me.
Side note: On the night my mom passed away, I returned with my brother to her house to look up her funeral plans on her computer. While the computer started up, I noticed a list of things she planned to do. Of that list of 8-10 things, only one or two did I pick up – replacing a light bulb so we could see in the basement. All the others things were forgotten by me – and undone by my mom as she had entered the presence of the Lord where I believe there are no lists of tasks to do except to please and praise Him forever.
Pressing on,
Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor
