Saved by His Grace

Time management—it can be one of our greatest struggles, yet mastering it can transform and deepen our faith walk.

Time is a precious gift the Lord has given us and we should steward it wisely. In our daily lives, we must apply the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Personally, I have consistently struggled with managing the time the Lord has given me more effectively. Just when I think I have mastered time management, the flesh interferes and my routine gets disrupted.

You likely know what I’m talking about: making plans to go to bed by a certain time and wake up earlier but staying up too late because you just “had” to finish a movie, TV show or a sermon. Or, crawling into bed and feeling like you just “have” to check social media or Amazon one more time, and before you know it, you are scrolling and scrolling and it’s midnight all of a sudden.

Discipline—it’s the answer to this off-and-on cycle of poor time management. But how can we be more disciplined if we have tried time and time again and failed?

While I still fall short when it comes to stewarding my time more wisely, I definitely have had wins when I was disciplined and followed the strategies I will mention later in this post.

Start with God, Not Your To-Do List

We must anchor our daily lives in the Lord, not the world, and He should never be an afterthought. We especially shouldn’t be waiting until night to open our Bibles for the very first time in any given day, no matter how busy we may perceive we are. Instead of fitting God into our schedules, we should build our schedules around Him.

As I said in “Is Your Faith Being Choked?,” we should ask ourselves, am I giving God my all? Am I making Him a priority every day? Am I being wise with the time He has given me; am I giving Him more of it?

Look at how many hours are in a day and critically evaluate how much of it you are devoting to the Lord outside of your daily job and sleep.

Making Him a Priority Every Day

Every day when I wake up, I strive to prioritize Jesus over my to-do list, especially when it comes to prayer and reading the Bible. There are days I fall short; but it just shows me that I need to be more disciplined.

On weekdays, I intentionally dedicate the first 30 minutes to an hour after waking—aside from getting ready for the day and taking my dog out—to prayer, reading, and studying God’s Word. I also strive to spend time in a daily devotional each morning.

For those who say they aren’t morning persons, let me tell you: Few things in life compare to the peace of rising before the sun comes up and setting aside at least 30 uninterrupted minutes to be alone with the Lord, immersed in prayer and His Word.

On a typical weekday evening, I strive to read and study more of the Bible, typically additional chapters that proceed from where I read in the morning. A few evenings each week, I also set aside time for Bible studies with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

I also can often be found reading a non-fiction Christian book, especially one from the late Pastor Derek Prince (see What’s on My Bookshelf (Part Two) for some of my favorite reads). I often use this time as well to listen to one of the many edifying sermons, Christian testimonies or documentaries that I have saved in my Watch Later list on YouTube.

Winding down with a few Psalms, along with prayer, is also a great pre-bedtime practice, as it gets you into a peaceful frame of mind before sleep. Two of my favorite psalms to read before bed are Psalm 4 and Psalm 91.

Guarding Yourself Against Distractions

This is a common misconception I want to clear up: It is possible to read the Bible every day for at least 30 minutes to an hour (at mininum) and spend time in prayer on a daily basis. The problem in modern society today is that we allow the distractions of the world (e.g., social media, movies, TV, even human relationships) take us away from time with the Lord.

Just critically look at how you spend your early mornings, evenings and weekends (if you work a typical 9-5). Do you really need a whole evening after work to “unwind”? Do you really need a whole day to go shopping? Are you heaping up for yourself treasures on earth and neglecting laying up for yourself treasures in heaven? (Matthew 6:19-21)

Identify all distractions in your life and set healthy boundaries to guard your time against those distractions. For me, these strategies have worked well:

• When it’s your quiet time with the Lord, put a “Do not disturb” mode on your phone. Even go so far to place your phone across the room or in another room if you recognize you have a phone addiction.
• Set alarms on your phone to remind you and hold you accountable to pray, read, and worship at certain times throughout your day.
• Place app timers on your phone to limit your time on distracting apps like social media, YouTube and Amazon.
• Make a commitment to wake up early, at a consistent time, to avoid feeling rushed and pulled in different directions. I aim for 6:30-7 weekday mornings, with a goal of going to bed no later than 10-10:30 most weeknights.

Strategies for Stewarding Time More Wisely

Below is a list of strategies that have served me well in my own walk with the Lord.

• Prayerfully take to Him how you should be stewarding your time. Before you get caught up in “your plans,” have you consulted the Lord about what He wants you to do? We often do things by our own efforts and forget to include Him.
• Prioritize things of God over things of the world. Don’t neglect prayer, reading God’s Word, fellowship, and Bible studies (solo and with like-minded believers). Build your schedule around what that truly matters.
• Plan your time intentionally. Sit down and look at what areas you are struggling in and know that your spirit needs more of. Do you need to read the Bible more often? Do you need to spend quality time in the prayer closet? Do you need to devote more time to the ministry or calling He has given you? Set aside a specific time every day for this. Set a few goals for each week of what you know you need to accomplish.
• Organize with a planner. Planners are great tools, but we must remember that the Lord ultimately guides our steps. To avoid overcommiting, just list three or four priorities for each day. A free digital planner tool I love to use is Trello, which has both a website version and a mobile app.
• Rest, rest, rest. Too often, we allow our schedules to overwhelm us and we forget to just stop. Always remember Psalm 46:10, Be still and know that He is God. Naps and having a sabbath day of rest to sleep in a little later and rest in His Word is extremely crucial. Naps are essentially Neccessary Adult Peace Sessions (credit to Pastor Jerry Flowers Jr.)
• Be flexible with your time to be open to helping others. Often, we get so caught up in our plans for the day that we can get upset and impatient when things seem to happen out of nowhere and seem to derail our plans. But, we can’t plan our days out to the minute (or even hour, sometimes) and not allow room to help and minister to others’ needs. That interruption could be divinely sent by God.
• Set boundaries and discern distractions. On the other hand, the enemy does send distractions to pull you away from God. We must exercise discernment (and pray) about interruptions and potentially new “obligations.” What might look at first like an opportunity might turn out to be a distraction sent by the enemy. When this occurs, we must learn to say “no” gracefully and to set boundaries with others on what days or times of the day are being devoted to the Lord.
• Be careful not to overcommit. It can be tempting to sign up for multiple opportunities to further your faith, like one too many Bible studies and prayer meetings. But, we must put personal intimacy with God first. We must be careful not to overextend ourselves to the point where we are so involved that we are neglecting our own salvation and healing.
• Invite God into your work. Devote your 5- or 10-minute breaks throughout the day to prayer and reading His Word (always bring a compact Bible with you wherever you go). When you are able, read your Bible during lunch breaks and/or listen to an edifying sermon on your headphones or earbuds. During commutes, listen to worship music. It is extremely important to stay aware of His presence throughout the day.

Lastly, remember to have grace with yourself when you fall short in managing your time. God values quality, consistent time with you.

Until next time, Lord willing, shalom to my brothers and sisters in Christ. May you have a blessed week and spend more quality time with Him.

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