Tag Archives: Time

How to Use Time Wisely

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Thousands of books are sold annually to help people discover their purpose, which, in essence, tell them how they should be spending their time. As I wrote earlier this week, Christians should spend our time giving God glory, which means focusing our efforts to display that we belong to God and so that others will come to know Him. This is our purpose. But because each of us is unique, this purpose—how we spend our time—will look different from person to person. This time spent is based on our gifts and talents and God’s timing of when He wants us to use them for Him.

Even if you know that you were created to worship God, you may not know how you were created to do so or how to allocate your time to worship Him fully. So to help us ascertain how to spend our time wisely, I want you to always ask yourself three questions: “What are my gifts and talents?” “How do you, God, want me to use my gifts and talents?” And, “What difference will it make if I do this right now?”

What are my gifts and talents? A gift is something that God supernaturally gives to Christians to accomplish His work—which is making Him known, reflecting God in your life and sharing Him with others. While people use Holy Spirit-endowed gifts for their personal benefit, God didn’t give them for personal use. Whether you are on your job, walking down the street, in the mall or at the hair salon, your gifts should always reflect that you’re using them to glorify Jesus Christ. See 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4:11-12. If looking at these scriptures doesn’t give you a clue about your gifts, there are a number of gifts tests you can take. Team Ministry has one that’s pretty basic at www.churchgrowth.org.

Talents are those activities that you come natural to you and you excel in. Singing, dancing, writing, carpentry, sports, or any other skill apart from those listed in the above scriptures fall in this category.

How do you, God, want me to use my gifts and talents? Just because you know your gifts and talents doesn’t mean you can use them for whatever comes your way. You must seek God to find out how He wants you to use your gifts and talents. I hear so many people say that they don’t hear from God or don’t know how to hear from God. Well, John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. . .” Jesus says because you are His you hear His voice. The assumption is that 1) you belong to God and 2) you do what’s necessary to hear His voice. You must seek to get close to Him so you can hear Him. You do this through studying His word and constantly communing with Him through prayer, not just a daily set aside time but talking to Him throughout the day.

What difference will it make if I do this right now? Sometimes we are clear about our gifts and talents and how God wants us to use them, but our timing is off. I know at times I don’t properly prioritize; I take care of something that God has told me to do, but it is not the most pressing issue. I have forced myself to ask, “What difference will it make if I do this right now?” If I find that I will only feel good about it being done or that it will set my schedule back then I shouldn’t be engaged in it right then. And, of course, the opposite is true: I do it right then if I know God will be pleased and I will be on target with my schedule.
Always seeking God with these questions ensures the right path for our lives and that we will be using our time wisely to accomplish God’s will.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Redeem Your Time

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“She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls” (Proverbs 31:15).

This scripture has always fascinated many Christian women because they were expected to wake up early on top of handling all the other responsibilities of a so-called Proverbs 31 woman. I have always been an early riser, so that part doesn’t fascinate me like the fact that she had servants, but I digress and will get back to that point in the next post, Lord willing. But even though I rise early and find it beneficial to my day, I think there is a larger principle at work in this scripture. The Proverbs 31 woman rose early so she could begin to handle her business and the business of her family before having to interact with her family. She used the time of day best for her to be singularly focused on family business and not on family members themselves.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Ephesians tells us to use our time wisely, or as some translations say “redeem the time,” “because the days are evil.” This phrase suggests that there is so much turmoil in the world that it can be easy for the Christian to focus on their pain and suffering, whether that pain comes from attacks against Christianity, the work that goes into keeping a daily routine or physical ailments that we are all prone to. But our focusing on our pain should not be all-consuming because we miss the ability to make “the best use of the time.” Our time is supposed to be used to accomplish “the will of the Lord.”

“For everything comes from him; everything exists by his power and is intended for his glory. To him be glory evermore. Amen” (Romans 11:36 NLT).

Because we were created for God’s glory, we must spend our time giving him glory, which means focusing our efforts to display that we belong to God and so that others will come to know Him. Each of us is called to do this but in different ways, according to our gifts and talents. So if we are spending time to accomplish anything other than giving God glory, we are not being wise; we need to seek the Lord to understand not His will, because I’ve told you that, but how He wants us to accomplish His will. Knowing how to accomplish God’s will helps us to be that Proverbs 31 woman, and doing God’s will is the only way to use our time wisely.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Watch Your Time

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Years ago I remember reading the story of a black woman executive who served everyone: friends, family, colleagues, and community. She was a strong black woman, a superwoman who seemed to have it all together until she was found dead, a victim of suicide to escape a world where time was her enemy, willingly taking her hostage and bounding her to destruction. Perhaps she was a people pleaser, wanting everyone to like her for what she did for them. Maybe she needed to feel needed so she responded to every beck and call. Whatever the underlying issue for this troubled woman, I know that above all she was not prudent with her time.

Some people may think that this is an unfair statement, saying that not budgeting her time wisely is ultimately what killed her. But when you look at anyone who is overwhelmed, whether to the point of death or not, nine times out of ten the issue is using time unwisely. You don’t use time wisely when you spend time doing something you shouldn’t be doing. This could mean that you give time to projects, pleasures and people where your efforts should be focused elsewhere. You could be altogether engaged in something that you shouldn’t or engaged in something that you should but just spending too much or too little time with it.

For instance, you may have a beautiful voice and decide to sing in your church choir when God wants you to pursue being a recording artist instead. Or you may have a beautiful voice and should sing in a choir, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should teach voice lessons to choir members, sing every solo that’s offered to you and direct the choir. In both instances, time is not being used wisely. We have all decided to watch TV, go shopping or talk on the phone instead of doing some work. And with people, we may see a need and decide we should meet it even though we know that need doesn’t fall within our calling. Or we might have to call to ask someone a question to meet a deadline, but we end up handling that person’s issue for 45 minutes. All these are instances of time spent unwisely, even doing some good but not doing our good.

Above all, I think the ultimate waste of time is focusing on projects, pleasures and people instead of giving appropriate intimate time to God. Ephesians 5:15-17 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Focusing on God first and fully helps to ensure that we are prudent with our time, not just doing good but doing the good that God would have us to do.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith