The Persistent Widow
They're probably a lot of people who when introduced to new people, I don't know exactly what to say. Next is kind of that strain time, where have you been to the weather talk about sports but invariably somebody will say, what do you do for a living? I have a good friend who is a psychologist and he doesn't ask that question. His question is, what keeps you busy? It's a much better question because you'll get all kinds of information very quickly and frequently you get all the other information. You know, this comes flowing out when you ask people what keeps them busy then you can move into the next question, which is how busy are you?
They're rarely people to say at all. Not all that busy. You typically, when you say how busy are you avoiding you wouldn't believe. You know, if we go into this long explanation about how how busy we are, and if there's more than one person, they are invariably, there's somebody who's like you call that busy. They want to tell you about how busy their life is. I think it's gotten worse because we live in such an instant World instantly, communicate will be instantly provide information. I remember when I got my first pager I thought boy, this is just wonderful and I've been tied to an electronic leash ever since it was not. It was not a good thing. I should have thrown in some water that very first day that would have been a better thing to do.
Being busy is part of life. Now, I think sometimes we'd start to equate busy with important. A busy person is an important person or vice versa important. You're going to be busy and so we kind of take on that trapping of wanting and needing to have a busy life. I think we should look at this, especially in the context of Victorious living. Because Busy has the capacity to crowd out significant things in our lives and our relationships, but especially especially in our relationship to God. But look at Luke chapter 18. Parable one of The Parables, you don't hear about very often and there's a reason for that. The reason for that is that there are no good guys in this Parable. And a lot of times we look at Parables and we want to try to make certain people certain representatives to want. That may be true. So I can The Prodigal Son, but there's like that this time. People look at this to go. Okay. With who's the good guy? Well, it's not a good guy, but we supposed to learn something through this process. But look at Luke chapter 18, starting at verse 1 and going down through verse 8. Then Jesus told his disciples, a parable just show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said in a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. That's a cool guy. That's a pretty strange place to be. Apparently, he's got it all figured out, or he's got so much support or he's bound. And determined to be in the right position. He knows, it's okay, whatever confidence, he has he eat us and care about people. He didn't care about ethics and care about. God cares, about doing what parent Lee is beneficial for him. And there was a window in that town who kept coming to him with the Polly, grant me Justice from my adversary. He's a judge that's what he's supposed to do. But he's not interested because it doesn't appear to be any advantage for him to be interested or sometime. He said to himself but finally she's being or sometime he refused. But finally he said to him even though I don't fear God or care, what people think you have me cause this Widow keeps bothering me. I will see that she gets Justice. Now you really going to get Justice for
What he wants his hair out of his office is what he want. He wants her off the telephone, he wants the people in our neighborhood that could get in touch with him. He wants this to be over and done with and so he didn't really care about her. He didn't really care about doing what was right, but because this is an irritant to him, personally, he is going to resolve it. Or. What's that she will eventually come in at Acme. The Lord said, listen to what the unjust judge says will. Not God, bring about Justice for his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night, will it keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get Justice and quickly. However, when the son of man comes, will he find faith on Earth? Why do people nag?
Why do we nag other people?
Cuz it works. If you want somebody to do something sometimes you can nag them into doing it, to do it, more than months, you may have to be pretty involved. I want to say something here. I'm not talking about a specific gender. If you're assuming gender, you're assuming the wrong thing because there are people of both genders, who can really nag you to death. You do sometimes children are highly skilled. A boy that really can't get it. It's not in this little younger or older male or female, it's about the fact that if you just keep going, keep pushing somebody frequently you want. They don't have time to fool with it anymore, and when you're dealing with busy people, it gets to be a manipulative technique to say, well, I'm going to keep pushing the push you to push it because it'll be easier for that person to deal with me, the way I want to be dealt with it and move on to it to something else. Our lives are busy and so are the lives of the people that we love and care about when we come here on Sunday morning. There's so many things to talk about. So many things to interact about because our lives are busy and engaged and probably if you're like me, you get away as they do, what we step into this. I wish I talk to somebody about that or something to get some input on that or some information or whatever, because they're just lots of things to take up our time and our interest make is busy. Now, there been, any of you who could say to people in the audience today, As your life goes, by the stages of life. Lead you to different levels of busy. Something that might have just taken all of your time. May not have the same Focus. Maybe you'd approach things with a little more of a plotting nature, or serious danger or something of that. Thinking about that, There also are those folks. It just never do get the message I shared with you the before of when we were in Houston. We had a Christmas party for the school were very tall. And it was church school. And they just really wanted to make the very first year of the school. That is really want to make a big big impression. Something that the whole Community would be interested in, they were able to do that, but it exhausted them to do it. I took so much work in the heart of the teachers. It's so much worse on the part of the principal and I remember it was over. I was standing in the kitchen and the principal came in. She just kind of laid down in one of the cabinets and it was like, is over. It's done with this is like December 20th and she sits electoral. I don't have a single gift bought I don't have any food. I got 20 people coming to my house for Christmas. What am I going to do? I said, we'll watch you take tomorrow and rest up and then hit it really hard. You don't understand. I'm going to dinner tonight. My daughter sorority is asked me to cook for there a ski trip. So, I'll be there till the 24th, and I remember thinking maybe you need to learn how to say, no.
There are some people that just constantly busy at and as there's a reason that they're constantly busy because they don't look at life or busyness in it is perhaps the right fast that time is a commodity just like everything else. We don't just spend the money we have in our pocket and think I'll get some more money. That's not a very good approach. Sometimes we do that with our time though. You know I got time right now. I could do it. But is that really going to give us the time to be rested to be ready to do other things that they need to be done? You can't just magically stretch time to create more of it. You can't run a little faster so that you get more those things don't work as much as we like for them to
if we're going to have,
if we're going to live a Victorious life, then we're going to have to find the time to interact with God. People say, well, I go to church and that's a wonderful beginning, is a great place and they're a lot of things that we can do a lot of things that we start here. But there are things beyond that in our relationship with God. Look at Jesus Jesus frequently stops the mission to do things that are unique. He may need some rest and so he'll would draw and recovered. He may need to pray as. So he'll do that, you were getting withdrawal and send intense time in prayer and then over and over again, we see him bumping up against Real knees. That only, he can handle. And his plan might have been to do something different that afternoon or that moment or that hour or the next 30 minutes. But instead, here's this person with the great need and often that need is for some kind of spiritual intervention, some kind of healing. Although, there are other cases where it's just an interaction. It's just talkin it just encouraging, it's just teaching. But those things are very, very important. I told you before. Set. My sister-in-law was here, this this last, you go over this last weekend, she's been going back and forth to India and it takes 24 hours to get to India. And that was reminded in my tell the story about, I had a friend who was a mission and missionary and he worked in India and a tent that time you could only stay either 60 or 90 days. I don't remember exactly was a short. Of time, it go in your work hard during that time and then you have to leave at 6 to come back for another short. Of time until these guys were flying from Houston over to Andhra Pradesh in India, to do these campaigns and they were 24 hours on the plane. And if somebody from the church would pick them up and take them and the very first time that my friend win, when they pulled into the place, where they were going to preach the people were there. He's been on a plane for 24 hours, they're ready. Now for him to start preaching. And so what are you do? Will you stop reaching for a couple of hours and Minnie? He stopped and he pulled somebody beside. You said, I've got to get some rest, get some rest. And so the man went out and explain to the crowd that that the speaker was going to have some rest. And so they all just sat down To wait until he woke up. So do you talk about pressure? Take about being busy, you'll get to stay asleep very long, it in that kind of a situation, but that's an important it is and he certainly was seeing that and knowing that
Psalm 46 verse 10 says be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the Nations. I will be exalted in the earth some of us and I'm talking about you don't tell me about me you don't know how to be still. When we get steel, we're we're bored or we don't know what to do next or we don't know how to hurry it up to hurry up the process. So we can be a really challenging thing to find that place where we truly can interact with God, but until we remove some of the activities of Our Lives, you find it very, very hard to do that. Hebrews chapter 13. Starting in verse 20. Going down through verse 21. Now, may the God of Peace who threw the blood of the Eternal Covenant brought back from the dead. Our lord, Jesus that great, Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing this will God will equip you with everything good for doing his will and he will work and he works in us but it's pleasing to him through Christ Jesus, then be the glory forever and ever. Amen. How does God equip you? Well, be nice if it was just osmosis, it'd be nice. If there was some more miraculous intervention where somebody just gave us all the information, they even we look at Paul Paul was lacking an information after he was converted to Damascus. He's going to spend a couple of years in the Arabian Desert getting information from God for what he's going to need to be doing in the future. It's going to hate that. It doesn't just happen in the miraculous kind of way when we give the time to prayer and study and fellowship and worship and interaction with other people, then God lifts us up and bills us up and help us to understand. The things that are really important. Also I know people who say I got a busy day coming and the beginning of the day, their prayers, God give me the time. I need to get done the things that you want and need for me to get done today. Now.
Probably for all of us. We sit as a okay, I would like to simplify my life and you can turn on those TV shows that say this is how you do it in physical ways, but how do we do it, if spiritual ways, how do we resolve some of this busyness by practicing? The kind of priorities that we need. You probably heard or read, maybe even the little booklet, the Urgent versus the important. That is a really good distinction. Is this something that's urgent? Or is it something you? Truly is important. Now that comes from President Dwight Eisenhower who win the 1950s, picked up information that was coming from a college President, at that point in time. And he kept talking about, I have poo, poo problems. I have the urgent than the importance importance. And so, Eisenhower, I know if he did this personally or not, but as a part of what he talked about, their came from that, What's called the Eisenhower Matrix? And I think it's the next flight up. Yeah.
I don't have a, I don't have a pointer and look at my colors and that great, I took, I took those because those are the only ones I can work. This is from the 50s. If it weren't from the 50s, it would be established differently. It's four boxes. That's how they do the 50s if you did this today, you would have to access important and Urgent and it would be in a circle with a scattershot graph rather than what's showing up here. Now, but it's useful because it helps us it to think. In terms of the four ways, I can classify things, you know, those shows. I hope you get rid of everything in your house to fix these spots with a stuff in it and then, if you're going to take it away, you done. They did to our gear and sell it, or give it or whatever. But look at the different choices, both agents and important. And we were doing a discussion, we talked about that basically if you think about that, really hard, if that's going to be a bunch of crises. Yeah, when you roll both of those things together for your your prevention crisis mode there times, you do people call you on the phone or they come into the room and they say things that it doesn't matter what else you're doing, okay? This is what the need is for this person, or you or whomever. And so, we can respond to that one fairly easy people. People understand, we have a crisis. When your child is ill or there's some kind of financial issue or something like that. You can have some understanding there. So the first one is is fairly easier and easier. The next one is, it's important. But it's not urgent and this I think is the biggest difficulty of all of the four. Because, you know, it's important and we're talkin about things like time with your kids. Go to Bible study, things like that, and it still the next slide, got his junk there real quick.
It is when business types come along and look at this. They said, okay, here's what you do. If it's critical, you do it, if it's not urgent, but important, if it's truly important, not to lie urgent than you're going to delegate it. And the last category or just go to delete it, that's both will soften that here in just a little bit, but the biggest trap in the world is scheduling
Especially when it comes to relationships. Okay. Ice, look at my family. I look at my relationship so I said, okay there's something missing here. What we do have is Friday night, fun night. So I'll send a memo to the kids be here at 4:30 for Friday night, fun, fun, fun, you know, and then the kids aren't there because it's not about their idea of fun to Sly and the parents stuff back into.
The other thing is Satan really likes to dilute us when we schedule stuff but just cuz we scheduled. It doesn't mean we've done it you can schedule it for next Tuesday. You can schedule for next weekend. You can schedule the rest of the year if you want to but when you got to really make it happen, it's getting it done. So, that's a good approach. This is important. I need to do something spiritual. I need to do something with my family. I need to do something for it and it's in this area. So I've got to work on making it happen and the first thing I need to do is pick a time for it. But if you stop, that gives totally away from you. Cuz you got to have the follow through. I'll say this, is important. What's going to happen? It's going to conflict with somebody or he's going to conflict with something, and you have to decide what I'm going to set aside in order to do that. I shared with you before the young couple that I married about, 30 years ago, they flew to Hawaii for a week once in a lifetime honeymoon. Second night, they're they're his boss called and said, they was that you fart, you're coming home and basically the marriage came apart at that phone. But the guy said, Work is more important than my commitment to my partner and the lady took it very seriously. There was really no way to fix it after that because he had made a choice about what was most important there, those choices are critical. Now if something is this is the problem with it being in the squares because they don't fall easily into just the important in the non-important. Yeah there should be a lot of stuff right there then be able to wear your debating, what it what to do. And again you say what are you going to delegate? That who had the other gate that too, but there's a lot of people who will support you sometimes. They're people who are willing to help you do some things that would free up some of your time to do some more important things and then there are some other things. And again I wish we were in the Bible class cuz what one we put in the category, it's not It's not important. What did you put there in that one?
You got to let me say all the bad stuff out of our Okay, thank you. I was about to about to say I was trying not to say, you know, like video game when you get up at 5:30 in the morning you go on my plate all night. I really don't have time to get to work, so maybe I need to miss today. You know those things can come and take over our lives in the busyness is something we enjoy but it really takes advantage of us. urgent, important in the windows top to I know what's important, but a lot of times it's not crying at my feet. It's not demanding my time.
What I was up when the song was about a cheating songs, about 10 years old, Harry and Sean were gone. And I was Johnny, and I spent the weekend together. Johnny was bored. Bored bored. I and Saturdays. I bought Church stuff to do. And so he kept coming in a sentence
Would you ever put down your sermon for one of your children?
And I said, yeah, I wouldn't do that, and then just close it up. We went to the park and had a big time and then later that night, I did a little extra studying the makeup for the afternoon was interesting. The next that on the way home. He looked over at me and said, as a really bad sermon, whatever he thought I hadn't even looked at it again to be with him, but it mattered to him a lot that you made that choice just to say, okay couldn't do it every time. But there are times when you say you're more important to me than being busy, you're more important than the schedule, you're more important than than my job. Even at this particular moment. Important, kind of things. Haggai chapter 5 chapter 1 verses 5 through 6. Now this is what the Lord Almighty says, give careful. Thought to your ways. You planted much, but harvested little you eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill you put on your clothes but you're not warm. You earn wages only to put them into a purse with holes in it described as describing, a lifestyle that some of us are familiar with Life ought to feel better than it. Does it all to be better than it is? Why am I not feeling better? Why am I not more connected to God? Why am I not connected to other people? What is it? It's missing. I think he would Whisper back to us, it's just time with me. is setting aside some of the things that are distracting you Spending that time with me. In 1st, King chapter 20, there's a story of Ahab and Ben. Hey Dad Ben, hey, Dad is of course a foreign King. Are they have the king of Israel. Ahab is papal is fortunate to take Ben. Hey, Dad prisoner? But he doesn't pay enough attention to what's going on and Ben. Hey, that escapes. And his answer in 1st. Kings, chapter 20, verse 40. It is his basically, what happened to Ben. Hey, Dad. And he says while your servant was busy here in the air, the man disappeared.
Doster King. But, what about? Child or spouse or your brother-in-law, people that you care about. easy to get into life and we get so caught up in those things and we look up and say I was busy here and there Now, they're gone. Would you play with me?
The God, our Father, we thank you for busyness and we thank you for the empowerment. We think you would. We accomplish things and other we know you have a special purpose in all of those things. But we also know that you intend for us to prioritize them that you intend for us to address them in specific ways as they relate to you, and do the important people into port and events in our lives. Father, we pray that we might have the strength and the wisdom to make the good choices to make the choices that give us the time to truly have the kind of relationship with you that drives us forward and leave this to that Eternal Promise Land. We pray this through your precious son and me and Extend the invitation of Jesus Christ, if you need to respond to that, we buy to do that. Now, while we stand this thing together,