Is Something Missing from your To-do List?
I have so much to do today that I'm going to need to spend
three hours in prayer in order to be able to get it all done.
Martin Luther
I plead guilty to being a to-do list-er. I like to
organize my day and plan what needs to be done by bedtime. I also love the
satisfaction of crossing off items as I complete each task. Lists are good, even
useful, if they are used for organization and keeping one on track.
But lists can also trip us up if they aren’t somewhat
flexible. Emergencies happen, plans change and within moments you can go from
being productive to falling into survival mode. If you have a child on the
autism spectrum, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Those phone calls from
school and dreaded words on the other end of the line, “You need to come and
pick up your son. He’s having a very rough day.” Even as I sit here, writing
this post, I can hear my son arguing with his brothers, the first step towards
a meltdown if my husband or I don’t intervene right away. Plans; they can go
awry in the snap of a finger.
When our son was
first diagnosed with autism, we wanted to provide him with the best help
modern-day medicine could offer. All too soon, we found ourselves running from
doctor to doctor, therapy to therapy (to date there are more than sixty
different types of therapies available for individuals on the spectrum),
treatment center to treatment center, all so our son would be able to learn
coping skills, manage his emotions and control his sensory processing disorder.
What we failed to do was ask for the Lord’s guidance. At one point, while we
were driving three-hours to an appointment, I asked my husband “are we doing
the right thing?” That’s when we came to the realization we could search the world
over for the best treatment for our son, but if the Lord wasn’t in it, we were
merely installing a screen door on a submarine.
I have been reading through the book of Isaiah and came
across this verse in chapter 22:11. The context tells us that the city of
Jerusalem was under siege. The people were terrified and fighting for their
lives and, as a result, they were frantically storing up water, tearing down
houses for stone to strengthen the walls and gathering weapons to defend
themselves. Crucial? Absolutely! Urgent? Undoubtedly.
Yet though they intended well,
they forgot one vital step: “But you never ask for help from the One who did
all this (says the Lord), you never considered the One who planned this long ago.” In their desperate
effort at survival, they failed to seek
the Lord first. Had they forgotten how God rescued them so many times from
enemies that seemed so much stronger than them? Had they fallen into a pattern
of believing action was more important than prayer? Everything they did to save
the city was useful. But it became
futile when they failed to commit their circumstances to the One who could save
them.
I am often guilty of doing the same thing. I rush
headlong into a busy day, list ready and objectives clearly defined, yet
somehow forget to commit my day and my plans to the Lord first. As a result, I find
myself doing what is important, yet not necessarily what is on God’s agenda.
In an effort to remedy this, I have begun a new format
for my to-do list. Item #1 is always prayer. No matter how busy my day may
seem, no matter how much I have to accomplish before bedtime, I must find the
time to talk with my heavenly father before I tackle the day he’s so generously
given to me. He is, after all, the One who created it and entrusted it into my
care.
.
Proverbs 16:3 reminds us to “Commit to the Lord whatever
you do, and He will establish your plans” (NIV). God wants to meet with us at the dawn of each new day so we can make
sure we are on the same page. Can an orchestra play beautiful music without
tuning their instruments to the same A? Can a mission succeed if all parties
concerned don’t synchronize their watches? Can students pass the exam if they
aren’t all reading the same book?
In the
same way, we need to surrender our daily
plans to Him. Not that those calls won’t come, not that our days won’t fall
apart. But when they do, we have the assurance that God knows all about it and
He cares. His hand is upon each day that we entrust to Him, and He will do with
it as He sees fit.
Is something missing from your to-do list? Take the time,
this very day, to adjust it so the first item reads “Prayer.” Commit your day
to the Lord and your plans will succeed. Not because your plans are remarkable,
but because His plans are best.
Comments