Lies Women Believe.....About Priorities

is the focus of Chapter Five of Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

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Lie 18:  "I Don't Have Time To Do Everything I'm Supposed To Do"

How many times have I said this, thought this, whined this, cried this??  This is a lie that plagues me.  Doggedly.  Sigh.  How many of you can relate as well to the plaque above?  It's cute, it's funny.....but in the reality of my life, it's really NOT.

I know many other women who experience the same thing.  We often feel incapable of managing and balancing all of our responsibilities ~ overwhelmed by how much we have to do and how little time we have to do it all in.

We are frazzled, breathless, and discouraged.  How often do we go to bed wishing we had gotten to everything on our to-do lists?  Add to that everything that is on everyone else's to-do lists for us and it's quite literally impossible to ever see the end of it.

The Truth is that we don't have to do all those things.  We only have to do the work God assigns for us to do.  When we establish our own agenda or let others determine the priorities of our lives instead of taking time to discern what it is God wants us to do, we end up buried in mountains of work, exhausted, frustrated and feeling guilty that we can't get it all done.  God desires for us to have a peaceful, well-ordered life....not one of chaos.

There's a related lie out there that many of us who are often victim to this one have heard, and heard often:
"I can do it all."    Truthfully, no woman can do it all......and do it all well.  Eventually, someone or something is going to suffer.

"Frustration is the by-product of attempting to fulfill responsibilities God does not intend for us to carry.  Freedom, joy, and fruitfulness come from seeking to determine God's priorities for each season of life, and then setting out to fulfill those priorities, in the power of His Spirit, realizing that He has provided the necessary time and ability to do everything that He has called you to do."  ~Nancy Leigh Demoss

Lie 19:  " I Can Make It Without Consistant Time In God's Word and Prayer"

Another lie no Christian would want to admit to buying into to.  And yet, how much time do we really spend in God's Word and in talking....and listening....to Him?

Satan desires us to live our lives independently of God.  He's not as concerned with whether we "believe" in God.  If we fill our schedules with lots of "spiritual activities", if we are trying to "live the Christian life' without developing and nurturing an intimate relationship with the Lord, he knows we will be spiritually defeated and ineffective.  If we operate on our own thoughts and ideas instead of seeking the wisdom that comes from God, he knows we will eventually get sucked into the world's way of thinking and will become vulenrable to deception in every area of our lives.

Much too often, we find ourselves jumping into the tasks and details of the day without first taking time to meet with the Lord and give that day to Him, to seek His guidance and set out accordingly.  I know when I do things in my own strength, in my own will, the results are never what I had hoped for and I am often left frustrated, aggravated and with a mess to clean up.

It is impossible for me, or you, to be the woman God wants me to be apart from spending consistant time building a relationship with Him, "abiding" in Him, living in dependence on Him......and trusting Him.

My Mustard Seed Planting verse(s) for the week:

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

~ Matthew 6:25-34