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Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. – 1 Corinthians 4:2
You have all the time you need to do everything God wants you to do.
For several weeks, James didn’t return any of the six text messages I sent. When we finally connected, I just had to ask, “Why didn’t you return any of my texts?”
He said, “Pat, I’m really sorry. I’ve had to work out of town for ten of the last thirty days. My wife isn’t happy about all the travel. I missed our son’s Little League championship game— he hit a double and drove in the winning run. My daughter is being bullied on social media, so that’s taking an emotional toll. I have more than a hundred work-related emails, texts, and phone calls I still need to return. To be honest, I’ve just been so overwhelmed that I’ve felt paralyzed.”
I get it, and I’m sure you do too. It’s easy to get out of whack and not know how to fix it. The twenty-four men who set the contents for this book were only one vote shy of making life balance their #1 issue, asking questions like:
• What should a typical day look like for a Christian man?
• How do I balance everyday life without losing focus on God and what’s important?
• How do I prioritize effectively?
• In what ways can I get out of my normal routine and create a godly one?
• What are some applicable tips to help me use my time better, especially for personal growth?
• I want everything I do to reflect Jesus. I want integration there. I want a clean break between my work and my family. How do I do that?
• Are hobbies okay?
These are the questions of men who understand they’ve been given a trust— something to steward and take care of. They want to be found faithful.
As we’ve already said, no man fails on purpose. But most of us have more demands on our time than we have time to give—money pressures, work pressures, marriage pressures, parenting pressures, social pressures, health pressures. All kinds of pressures! And these pressures mount up.
So how do we solve this problem? How can you juggle all the demands on your time, intellect, emotions, money, and relationships? What is the healthy mix?
Jesus and the Pressures of Life
The Bible teaches that Jesus was both fully God and fully human—a great mystery! Human Jesus had the same problem as we do—he couldn’t be in more than one place at a time. Like us, he was constantly pulled in too many directions. Like us, he felt the pressures that can lead to an unbalanced life.
Jesus was once up most of the night healing people in Capernaum (Luke 4:31–41), where his ministry was headquartered. The Scripture reads, “At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them” (Luke 4:42).
Why did they try to keep Jesus from leaving? The better you are at what you do, the more people will want from you. That’s just human nature. But it will always feel like pressure. How did Jesus handle the pressure? “But he said, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent’ ” (Luke 4:43).
Jesus knew who he was and what his life was all about— his identity. As a result, he had settled in his mind what God wanted to accomplish through him. How did Jesus solve the “too much to do” problem? He was intentional. He took control of his calendar: “And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea” (Luke 4:44).
We are Christians today because Jesus “kept on preaching.” Because Jesus lived by his priorities (not his pressures), he had all the time he needed to do everything God wanted him to do. You can too.
Excerpted with permission from The Christian Man by Patrick Morley, copyright Patrick Morley.
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Your Turn
What pressures are you currently facing in your life? How can you begin to better live by your priorities? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
If you’re looking for a practical game plan to navigate life balance issues or other challenges you’re facing, check out The Christian Man: A Conversation about the 10 Issues Men Say Matter Most.
No one understands what you’re going through more than men’s expert Patrick Morley, author of the landmark bestseller The Man in the Mirror, which has sold over 4 million copies.
