Proverbs 31:27 says, “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
What comes to mind when you hear the word “idle”?
Maybe laziness? Sitting still?
That’s what I used to think of, too. Until last night.
I was in bed trying to fall asleep and the Lord just gave me this thought and an illustration. I hope this will be a help to you.
Think of a car. When it idles, what is happening? I’ve been raised around cars my whole life, so just bear with me a minute.
As that car idles, it’s not moving. It is working, though. The engine is running, oil is moving, coolant is flowing, the pistons are moving and creating combustion, spark plugs are igniting, crank and camshafts are turning, sensors are monitoring all of the systems. There is A LOT going on here. That engine will idle until the car runs out of gas or something breaks. It will work and work, burn lots of gas, but never move the car in this position of idling. If you let it idle enough, eventually things will break. Wear and tear will occur even though the car never moved. Gasoline engines aren’t made to idle for an endless amount of time.
Does that change your view of being an idle Christian, wife, or mother?
When was the last time you either said aloud or thought, “I’ve been so busy all day, but nothing got done!” Or, “Dinner time already?! Where did my day go?”
Now, I will pause here to say a few things. Being a mother and wife is a full time responsibility. Working outside the home and trying to balance home life is a full time responsibility. Some days we do need to rest. Being sick is not what I am looking at here.
However, we spend SO much time and energy but get nowhere.
We are so busy, we can’t make dinner. We can’t serve the Lord. We can’t spend time having devotions and praying.
Does this sound like your life? I fear that for most of us, it does. We often think that if we just had a few more hours in the day then we could get a handle on things. Friend, more hours are not what you need. Spending your time wisely is what you need.
Getting started with a new routine is HARD. Being organized and planning ahead takes time and effort. However, it can help you so much. Make realistic goals for each day; don’t be afraid to write this in pencil and make changes along the way.
We make lists for our grocery shopping and what to buy family for Christmas, but not for our day to day tasks. Why is that?
Lists keep us focused and on task, they help give us goals for the day.
Start today. What would you like to get done over the next 3-4 days? Don’t try to plan a month at a time if it’s too much.
Personally, I use a monthly view calendar in a planner I have. I know cleaning the kitchen and laundry are daily tasks, so I don’t write these on each day, but if you need to, go for it! I have two days when we clean the bathrooms, one day for floors, one for dusting. I write down that bed sheets need to be changed on Fridays. It’s easy to say that I will change the sheets or mop tomorrow…three days in a row. (Don’t make that face at me, you’ve done it, too.)
Maybe you struggle with folding the laundry once it’s dry. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Run the dryer again…and again to get the wrinkles out.
I don’t know about you, but checking off those lists and seeing what I accomplished just motivates me to keep going; to complete tomorrow’s list.
Maybe you need to schedule a date night with your spouse. It’s too easy to say “next weekend” a million times in a row and that weekend never gets here.
Whatever your needs are, write them down. Write down when your church has activities and outreach so you can attend. If we don’t schedule our time, we will continue to sit and wonder where it went. Don’t spend it scrolling social media or putting your hard work into things that have no value.
Idleness isn’t necessarily laziness, but we must beware of unproductive busyness.
With Hope in His Service,
Heather
Proverbs_31Life 