At Wyandot, I had a hard time managing projects. It would get to the point that I had so many requests, that I struggled at managing my time. I’d find myself jumping from one project to a fire, then onto another project, then another fire, and yet again another project. I couldn’t stay focused. Â
My boss noticed this and let it go for a while to see if I’d manage. When I couldn’t, he stepped in and requested that I give him my project lists and requests and let him manage them for me, telling me what I needed to be working on. In effect, he became a manager of my time, showing me what I needed to be working on.
When I skip meetings with Jesus, I miss the opportunity to let Him be my time manager. I’m tempted to believe that I can manage my tasks on my own. And when I do that, I end up focusing completely on tasks and not people. God didn’t place me here to accomplish tasks alone. We are to encourage one another, to love on one another.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
According to the New American Standard Greek Dictionary, the word encourage is parakaleo. It’s made up of two words – para meaning by the side of, alongside, and kaleo, meaning to call or invite.  To encourage someone, then,  means that I call on them, talk to them, invite them into my life along with anything they need to talk about, and come alongside them and walk with them. I can’t do that when I skip meetings with Jesus. I neglect to trust Him with my time and end up refusing to let go of my precious task list in the name of crossing one more thing off.
If I’m trusting God with my time, then whatever tasks that I think need done, I can entrust to Him as well. By relinquishing to Him my time and my duties, I let Him manage my time. And I need to make myself aware that I might not get done what I wanted. But that’s ok. I allowed myself to be used by God and accomplished what He needed me to do with another person – which may be simply a listening ear.
Jesus was a busy guy. But even as busy as He was, He never skipped a staff meeting with His Heavenly Father. There are several times in the Gospels where we see a picture of Jesus getting away to a solitary place to talk to His Father. He needed time to recharge, to reconnect, and to prepare for what His Father had for Him to do.
It is good for us to do the same. Spend some time with God in His Word and in prayer.  Seek of Him what He wants you to do today. Don’t expect a list of some sorts. You probably won’t get one. But you will get a reassurance that whatever happens that day, whatever direction God takes it, you can know that you had a staff meeting with Him, you are on the same page with Him. You are reminded that you can trust Him with your time and your tasks and that He is the master time manager. You can do exceedingly more with Him managing your time than you can do alone.
Don’t be afraid to trust Him with your time.
