Don't Exhaust Yourself

You have your to-do list prepared and you take a deep sigh wondering how you are going to get it all done.  You feel overwhelmed and stressed at the thought of tackling the load. You carry on day by day getting exhausted and irritable as the days progress.  Stop and ask yourself, “Am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing?”

 

Now, obviously, we all have responsibilities that require effort and sacrifice.  So we aren’t talking about living a reckless life, but I challenge you to think about your load and through prayer, determine if what you are doing is fruitful.  Sometimes, we get wrapped into doing tasks, events, etc…that we shouldn’t be involved in.  Maybe, we were meant to do a task for a season but that season has passed.  Maybe, we were never supposed to be involved to begin with. 

 

Proverbs 31 is talks about the virtuous woman.  Verse 16 says “she considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties].”  In other words, she doesn’t take on more than she can handle at the risk of neglecting her present duties.  Verse 17 says “She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.”  Notice the words “God-given task”.  Are you in line with what God wants you to be doing?  Sometimes, we spend so much energy on things that don’t really add value to our lives, our family, or our household.  Instead, they add stress to our lives and take away energy from us to do the things we should be doing. 

 

Stop exhausting yourself by fulfilling the role someone else should be fulfilling.  You have your own role, your own purpose.  Focus on that! And if you don’t know your purpose yet, then begin by praying to God and ask him to reveal his plan for your life.  Ask him to reveal the areas in life where you are being wasteful, or not adding value.  Set your priorities and allow God to guide you through the process of change.  It’s not easy to let go of certain things especially if we’ve formed a habit out of them, but if it’s not adding value, we need to be willing to let it go.  We need to ask God to help us redirect our energy on the matters he wants us to focus. 

 

What are you watching?

Do you ever sit and think to yourself if what you are watching on TV or what your children are watching is truly appropriate?  I know I have.  Sometimes we use the television as a way to relax or settle our bodies down, but is what we are watching benefiting our lives or hurting it?  We should sit and analyze what we are truly watching.  “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”  (Proverbs 3:7- 8)

 

There are many shows, movies out there that share some type of violence, sexual content and/or vocal content that is not good for our spiritual lives.  It is not producing any seed, but actually placing harm into our life.  You might think that it’s minimal, but if you have nightmares of what you’ve watched or if it plays a role in your life and how you act, you should re-evaluate. 
 

As far as our children go, we have to be careful of what they are watching and the age level these shows or movies are targeting.  Are they really appropriate?  Can our child distinguish, at their age, between reality or fiction?  Have they watched too much TV for the day?  Children should not be watching TV shows that say ‘profanity’… words such as stupid, dumb, and so on.  Remember, they are at their learning stages and if they see it on a show they are most likely able to say the words because they have learned it.  They don’t know what’s right from wrong until it’s taught to them.  As well as, if you have children who are a bit older, 7ish…be careful with introducing shows that may have boyfriend concepts.  Our children are growing too fast these days and there are a lot of influences out there. Let’s try to keep them children and not have them learn from things in our household that they shouldn’t be learning at such a young age. 

 

We have control over what happens in our household so let’s take care of it. View what benefits our spiritual lives and will provide nourishment to it; not what will take from it. “They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.” (Nehemiah 9:25)

 

 

 

Eye Covenant

Have you made an eye covenant? We all have areas of our lives that are a struggle for us.  Perhaps we are tempted by food, sexual temptations, addictions, etc…Whatever our weakness, we can overcome through the Holy Spirit. 

 

Job 31:1 says “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” Now Job was referring to not allowing himself to lust over a young woman but we can apply this same principle to the areas that we are tempted with.  For example, if you are struggling with a shopping addiction then viewing fashion magazines isn’t going to help you resist the urge of shopping; it’s going to fuel it.  We have to be mindful of the areas that are a struggle for us and not feed those; lest we fall into temptation.  “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). 

In her book Reshaping It All, Candace Cameron Bure makes the following statement: “teaching our minds to listen and yield to the Spirit lays out our inner road map directing the paths by which we should go; couple that with self-discipline that brings our body into submission, and we’re on the right path.” This is why it is super important that we renew our minds daily through the word of God so that we may be transformed and “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). If we don’t renew our minds and practice self-control, it will be difficult for us to overcome the temptations that we struggle with. 

So I challenge you to make an eye covenant?  Train your eyes not to lust over things. Through prayer and studying the word, you can renew your mind. Ask God to help you overcome your temptations and resist them by not feeding into them.