How To Do More By Doing Less

” His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 147: 10-11

The alarm goes off, 5:20 a.m., time to wake up; 5:40- 6:30 a.m., devotional time; 6:30 a.m., waking up Sebas for school; 6:50-8:40 a.m., work time; 9 a.m. -12 p.m., homework, and so on my day goes. Does it sound familiar? It might not be the same activities or hours, but most likely the craziness of the day will be the same. We’re living in very hectic times; time flies, and we feel the weight and responsibilities of the world over our shoulders.

We want to be responsible women and extraordinary mothers. We want to serve, to do, and to live, however, at the end of the day we’re exhausted. We end up without energy and with another big to-do list for the next day.

We’re in times where the rate of anxiety, worry, and stress are over the roof, where in spite of having the latest technology and information at hand, families are falling apart and teens are choosing destructive paths.

In these verses, the psalmist reminds us that God doesn’t delight in our strength or skills, rather He delights in those who fear Him and put their hopes in Him. Oh, what a sweet freeing statement! When we start to understand that God doesn’t want our fleshly efforts and strength, instead He wants our dependence on Him, we’ll feel a weight lifted from our shoulders.

It doesn’t mean our Lord wants us to be slothful and inactive, what it means is that when we come to dependence on Him and sit at His feet to rest and listen to His voice, He’ll open our eyes so we can see the wonders of His word. Suddenly, what didn’t have a solution before and didn’t fit in our calendars, now does. What worried us and we thought we had to do by today, it can wait another day. When we come to God, He teaches us to prioritize, not so we don’t do, instead, so that we can do better.

When God sets the priorities in our schedule, unexpectedly, we have more time not just to breathe, but also to bless others. We find time to send an encouraging text to our friend, and even to grab coffee with our neighbor and share Jesus. Even in our homes, we feel more peace when we depend on the Lord.

Paul reminds us: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6-7

The weight of the world is not over our shoulders, it’s not our responsibility. Let’s be wise women who act and do under the guidance of the Lord. Let our goal be not to be just occupied, but to serve without pressure: “Martha, Martha” the Lord answered, “you’re worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed- or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42

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