Psalms 90

For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night. So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.  ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭90:4,12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Feeling overwhelmed?  Do you feel like you have too much to do and not enough time to do it?  Time is a precious commodity and a scarce resource for most of us.  As David so aptly points out in Psalms 39:5: “You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you.” There are only 24 hours in a day, and time marches on at the same pace regardless of whether we are at work, rest, or play, and whether we are being productive or wasting our time.  Thankfully, our Heavenly Father is not limited by time.  If He wants us to get something done, it will get done, even if from our perspective it looks like we do not have enough time to do it.  Allowing ourselves to become overwhelmed and worrying about a lack of time is actually a waste of time in itself.  We will be given the exact amount of time we need, as long as we remain in close connection with God and ask Him to help us use our time wisely.  God can actually teach us how to manage our time carefully, if we ask Him to.  There are reminders of the importance of time management throughout the Bible, such as: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).  Practically speaking, there are certain things we must do in order to effectively manage our time.

1. Prioritize.  God is always our number one priority.  After that, we need to make sure we take time for ourselves and for our family.  Taking care of our own basic needs and developing healthy relationships with others is one of the keys to minimizing stress in our lives.

2. Choose to focus on one task at a time, as much as possible.  Research has shown that the brain cannot effectively or efficiently switch between tasks, so you lose time in trying to multitask.  Studies have also shown that we have a much lower retention rate of what we learn when multitasking.

3. Set healthy limits and boundaries.  We need to decide what we can and cannot commit to in a given day, and stick with our decisions.  Jesus told us to be matter of fact about our promises: “Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’” (Matthew 5:37, NLT).

We must remember that life on Earth is short, and it is essential that we use the little time we have wisely.  Moses offers a great prayer about this in Psalms 90:12: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  Live each day with an eternal perspective instead of on the fleeting pleasures of this passing world.  An investment of our time in things that are eternal will yield an exponentially larger return than anything earthly we invest our time in.  In addition, the more godly wisdom we seek, the more productive we can be regarding what we spend our time on and how much time we spend on it. 

Live as if every minute counts – because it does.