Hydrate Ministries

I’M TOO BUSY!       By Team Member: Vickie Peterson

First, let me say Thank You for choosing me to be a part of Your Kingdom and for sending me out in to the world to declare Your name.  What an honor to be used by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!  You chose ME…of all people…you chose me…sometimes I can’t believe that you chose Me…

My prayers have been…send me…use me…hear me…and You did.  You heard and answered my prayers.  I remember reading in the Bible where Isaiah answered Your call saying, “Here am I, send me” and then crying out that same prayer to You.  You soon began opening up doors for me and placed people in my path that would assure my purpose.  

So, why has my life become so busy now?  How do you balance work in the Kingdom and everyday life?  How do I remain effective? All of a sudden life comes rushing towards me at the speed of light.  There seems to be less time today than I had yesterday.  Yet there is more work to be done in Your Kingdom…so much more…The other day I kept passing a woman at a bus stop and felt impressed to stop and give her a bottle of water but I was too busy doing Kingdom work at the time and thought, "let me do this one thing and I will come back to her."  Of course, she was gone when I returned.  What you showed me later was that it was not a bottle of water that she needed but a drink of life giving water.  I was so busy that I missed the most important part of my mission that day.  I was in the area again another day and looked for her but she was not there.  I had been too busy with the minor details of Your Kingdom that I overlooked the purpose of Your Kingdom.

Also, what about prayer, fasting and reading the Bible?  I am so busy working for You that these things don’t get the attention that I once gave them.  Because of my now busy schedule, I yawn throughout my morning prayer time and ask for forgiveness…cause you know how busy I am doing Your work and that sometimes I run late getting into bed the night before.  Not to even mention the rushed Bible reading sessions that I manage to squeeze in and fasting, well, come on, I need to eat so that I will have strength to carry on my important mission.

Today I realized that the passion for my mission is now generated from my head instead of my heart.  I looked back at my mental “to do list” and I don’t recall seeing “seek the Lord” anywhere on it because that takes time and I am too busy.

Thank you Holy Spirit for continuing to whisper in my ear and reminding me that my mission is irrelevant without a daily communion with God…for showing me that without seeking, fasting and studying the Bible, it is all for naught…that the mission will soon become routine and rigorous and eventually, it will be consumed by the cares of life and that my purpose will just become another religious activity that will no longer produce a harvest.

Busyness Does Not = Spirituality

          “Don’t for one second let the…bustle of religious activity, a surge of religious thinking fool you into thinking that there is a lot of spirituality…Actually, our craze for activity brings few enriching benefits into our Christian circles. If you look into [many churches], you will find groups of half-saved, half-sanctified, carnal people who know more about social niceties than they do about the New Testament…[It is a] never-ending squirrel-cage motion [that] gives the impression that much is being done, when actually nothing really important is ever happening and no genuine spiritual progress is being made. From such we must turn away. In an effort to get the work of the Lord done, we often lose contact with the Lord of the work and quite literally wear people out as well…[Activity alone] is not fellowship at all…The center of attraction in a true church is the Lord Jesus Christ. As for fellowship, let the Holy Spirit define it for us: ‘And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”  -- A.W. Tozer