Pile of Poop

The more women I meet, the more I see that too many of us are trying to do too much. It's as if the normal, everyday things such as laundry, cleaning the house, cooking, and running errands aren't enough. We are compelled to put our children in baseball, basketball, soccer, ballet, and gymnastics. We don't even stop there. Let's not forget about Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Bible clubs, and other after-school activities. And who get the pleasure of being the chauffeur to all of these activities? You guessed it -- MOM!

Even once Mom finishes with the children's activities, she's still not done. She has her own activities. There's the MOPS group which meets twice a month, the monthly homeschool mom's night out, her volunteer work at the crisis pregnancy center, and the volunteer work at the hospital. Now, let's not forget the Sunday morning and Sunday evening church services, as well as the midweek services. Oh! I almost forgot! There's the women's group that meets once a week at church.

We carelessly muddle our way through each day. What we don't stop to realize is that our current way of living isn't God's best for us. He doesn't want us to live thoughtless, aimless lives. He wants us to seek after Him, making sure that we know what His will is (Eph. 5:17), so that we can enjoy an abundant life. (Jn. 10:10)

While we may have many different motives for being involved in so many activities, Paul reminds us that if what we pursue is not God's will for us, then we should count it as dung. In today's language, we'd call it 'poop.' (Phil. 3:7-8)

All of our pursuits, no matter how good they may be, are nothing compared to the greatness of knowing Christ. Ladies, I'm not talking a head knowledge of God. I'm talking a heart knowledge where you intimately know your God. I'm referring to a knowledge that causes you to yearn for Him like you are in a dry, thirsty land. (Ps. 63:1) I'm talking about a yearning where you feel you will faint if you don't have time alone with the Lord (Ps. 84:2) I'm referring to a passion for Him where thoughts of the Father consume you, morning, noon, and night -- where your heart thrills to speak His very name.

How long has it been since you've had this kind of relationship with the Father? Are vain pursuits keeping you from having that relationship now? Do you need to clean out any piles of 'poop' from your life so that you walk more closely with your God?

We fall so easily into the trap of doing too many things. I have heard many parents talk about how they are always eating on the run because they have at least one or two activities every night of the week. That doesn't even count the myriad of activities they must attend during the weekend.

In watching how some people live their lives, constantly on the go, you might even think that they are in a marathon. That may very well be the case, only there's no prize at the end. Paul tells us to run in such a way so that we will get the prize. (I Cor 9:24) To win the prize, we must go into strict training, beating our body, and making it our slave, so that we won't be disqualified for the prize. (I Cor. 9:25, 27)

1. We need to learn to run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Heb. 12:1) This means that we need to learn to God's will for our own life, and not follow someone else's will.

2. We must redeem the time. Realize that there is never going to be enough time to do everyone else's will for your life, but there will always be enough time to do God's will for your life. (Eph. 5:16)

3. Fix your eyes on Jesus. (Heb. 12:2) You must get focused on what God wants you to do. If you don't, you may find yourself doing too much, following the crowd, only to find that you are lost in that same crowd.

4. Find a lighter yoke. (Mt. 11:29-30) Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Do you need to lighten your load by getting rid of some outside activities? If you are constantly saying, "I just can't get everything done," may I suggest that you ask the Lord which burdens you need to remove from your yoke?

(I Cor. 2:2) If anything can help you keep things in the right priority and in the right perspective, it is knowing your God.

When we run to win, persevering in doing our Father's will, we will receive a crown which will last forever. (I Cor. 9:25)

As Christians, we know that we are saved by grace, through faith. We say we aren't saved by works, but yet the way we live our lives may say something different.

Sometimes it's good to evaluate why we are doing certain things. Why do we allow our children to be involved in so many activities? (Activities which require us to chauffeur every night of the week, and several times on the weekend) Are we afraid to say no? Are we trying to avoid hearing their whining if we refuse? Is it to stroke our own ego? Is it peer pressure? Why do we feel that we must say 'yes' to every person who asks us to do something? Are we looking for approval? Do we fear what they may think of us if we say 'no'? Are we trying to stroke our ego again?

While doing all of these outside activities builds up a very busy schedule, it may not be building a very firm foundation for us. Paul tells us that we should build a foundation using gold, silver, and costly stones. (I Cor. 3) When we find ourselves wrapped up in too many activities, even good activities, which aren't God's will for us, we will find that we are building a foundation of wood, hay, and straw.

When we find ourselves doing too many things that aren't God's best for us, we cause ourselves undue stress, excessive weariness, and constant strife. The strife can affect our marriage, family, friendships, and most importantly, our walk with God. Our aim should be to let God's righteousness shine through. When we build a foundation by doing things outside of God's will for us, we are letting our own righteousness show through, and God makes it clear that our righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags.