Daily Dose 1: Principle Trumps Pressure

The Pressures

The dentist calls.  Now you are twenty minutes late for your appointment.  The reminder sticker you got at your last visit is RIGHT THERE, posted on the calendar, and the office emailed yesterday as an additional reminder.  You still forgot in the bustle of the day.

“Just another day”—four chauffeuring trips, several errands, making a casserole for the neighbor with a new baby, three loads of laundry, three meals to fix, a house to clean, and a Sunday School craft to prepare—all after a full day of work.  Are you sure you can accomplish it all? 

In a (long overdue) burst of organizational enthusiasm, brought on by the first sunny days of spring, you have emptied the hall closet and are vigorously sorting, disposing, and organizing when the phone rings.  Your mother has been rushed to the hospital and you need to leave immediately.  Do you leave the mess for someone else, throw it all back in the closet, or just sit and cry for your mother and your disorganized life?

The student facing two major papers, an orchestra program, soccer practice, and two nights of work in the next thirty-six hours might also have a little to say about pressure. And let’s not forget our boss who believes his or her pressures, if not greater, are at least more significant, than ours. How about the CEO, whose split second decisions means millions of dollars? No doubt his time is the most valuable.

The Dream

Day to day pressures and frustrations make us all want to know the secret of how never to run out of what we need whether it’s flour, paper, widgits, or energy. We all want to stay on top of routine tasks whether that task is making beds, reading assignments, or answering email—and we want it all to happen with no effort on our part—ever.

Everyone wants thirty hours of life in twenty-four hours of day.

Yet many also say we don’t have TIME to waste learning about time. All we really need are REAL answers RIGHT NOW, preferably in the form of someone else doing what we need done.

The Reality

No. Whether stuck at home, or trapped in the work place; whether putting time into school or the drive-thru; whether running the world, running a business, or running the nursery, we all are best served by taking time to think God’s way about Time. We need to step back, relax, and waste time thinking about time, so that whatever we do will be principle right, not pressure reactionary. We need to know about Time.