Being busy may seem productive, but being too busy can pull us away from doing things that actually matter.  Busyness can be a distraction from us receiving all that God has for us. Are you too busy? 

I love staying busy because it makes me feel productive. But this busy lifestyle soon led me to the category of too busy.

I started saying yes to people before I could say yes to God time. Whenever my calendar had a day that was empty, I would be quick to fill it up without leaving room for God to interrupt my day.

While being busy is a good thing, it becomes bad when we start to lose our priorities.

I knew I was too busy when I started to “fit” God into my schedule before I slept. I could no longer enjoy my alone time with God because of my busy schedule.

But God reminded me that time alone with him was better than crossing something off my to-do list.

Time with Jesus is better than anything else. 

The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 is a great example of how being busy isn’t always a good thing. Martha opened her home to Jesus, but while Jesus was there, Martha was too busy doing preparations instead of spending time listening to Jesus. On the other hand, Mary sat at Jesus’s feet listening to what he said (Luke 10:39).

Martha got upset and said to Jesus, “Don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40). Jesus responds with, “…Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42).

How many times have we been like Martha, choosing work, school, or ministry over time with Jesus? We must remember that time with Jesus is better spent than doing anything else.

While Martha was doing good deeds for Jesus, Jesus wanted her to realize that listening to what he had to say was better than doing things for him. 

Martha got distracted.

Are you being distracted as well? What’s distracting you from spending time with Jesus? Has the busyness of life pulled you away from what is better? 

Many times we sacrifice God time with social media, school, or even ministry. But God cares about our relationship with him more than anything.

Before we go out and say yes to doing things for Jesus, we must first say yes to spending time with Jesus. Jesus wants to speak life into us, but we must set the time to listen to him.

Luke 11:28 says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

We need to come to the realization that we need to hear God’s word. How can we know what we should do if we don’t hear Jesus? If we want to live life to the fullest, we must allow Jesus to speak to us every day. Jesus will give us the wisdom, joy, truth, and guidance that we need to live out God’s purpose in our lives.

If we want to live productive lives, we must abide with Jesus. John 15:5 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

We must be connected to God if we want to see fruit in our lives and be used mightily.

Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.

When we try to do things for Jesus without Jesus, our work becomes fruitless. But when we do things for Jesus and with Jesus, everything we do will prosper and bless others. That’s how important spending time with Jesus is.

We should never have an excuse to say we don’t have time for God. God should always be our priority. Here are some signs that you’re too busy:

• When God time gets moved out of your to-do list.
• You constantly feel like you’re racing against time.
• You have no time for God to interrupt your day.

Have you sacrificed your time with God for other things? God wants to do amazing things with your life but you must take the time listen to what he has to say so that he can prepare you for what is to come. So remember, are you too busy?

Prayer: Lord, help me to leave room every day for time alone with you.