Combatting the Lie of Busyness

We Have a Problem 

As a mom of young kids, I have a built-in excuse for forgetfulness. A sock goes missing, dinner time arrives and I haven’t started the meal, a phone call or text goes unresponded to. These are normal parts of my life, but my season of life isn’t the true culprit. I am. 

A busy season of life can often masquerade as the cause for forgetfulness, but let’s stop and be honest with ourselves. Why are we busy in the first place? Why have we filled every nook and cranny of our lives with things to do, places to be, and tasks to accomplish?

Does it even matter that we are busy and forgetful and overburdened with the cares of this life? It absolutely matters, and it causes bigger problems than we realize. 

• We forget who God is and what His Word says about who He is. 

• We forget who God says that we are and start to believe what the world tells us. 

• We forget that God is with us every single moment of our days, pursuing us, loving us, and redeeming the world. 

But the problem is not simply busyness and forgetfulness. The problem is not simply that we forget tasks or items or even to care for the people in our lives. As we forget who God is, who God says that we are, and that God is actively working in our lives, we simply forget Him. Our day-to-day lives become more and more self-focused, revealing the true problem: We are preoccupied with ourselves. 

As Tim Keller says in his book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, there is an “illusion that we are competent to run our own lives, achieve our own sense of self-worth and find a purpose big enough to give us meaning in life without God.”

By not acknowledging God in our day-to-day lives, in the everyday moments, we begin to think all of life revolves around us. We become inward-focused. We become the center of our worlds, and our lives revolve around our priorities rather than orienting our lives around the One who holds it all together, the Creator of the Universe, God. 

Making the Most of Our Time

With this in mind, how do we respond when Scripture says, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16 CSB).

The days are evil, and time is short! Verses like this often make me want to buckle down and work harder, more efficiently, with greater vigor. But that is not the antidote to having limited time, according to Paul. No, the antidote to making the most of your time is to walk in wisdom. 

Wisdom comes from God, and God has revealed Himself to us through His Word. When we know what Scripture says about who God is and what God’s priorities are, we can reorient our lives to align with wisdom. 

Gaining a Heart of Wisdom

Consistently throughout Scripture, God commands His people to recount and call to mind who He is and what He has done. This practice of remembrance comes through knowing God and being reminded of His character, and it helps us keep our focus on Him in a world that is telling us to focus on ourselves. 

Combatting busyness in our culture can feel like a full-time job, something that requires regular thought and effort. It requires regularly reorienting our minds to the truths of Scripture, daily alignment with God and His will through prayer, and accountability to the Body of Christ. 

But ultimately, combatting busyness is putting to death our own desires so that we can be reminded of who God is and what He is doing in the world. This practice of remembrance leads us to “not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less” (Keller, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness).

A daily practice of time in the Word, in prayer, and involvement in a local church are the tools God has given us to help us remember who He is, what He is doing in this world, and to live a life of wisdom. 

Let us commit ourselves to prayer and ask God to help us.

“Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts” (Psalm 90:12 CSB).

Kimberly Wootten is a military spouse and mom of two living in Vine Grove, Kentucky. She loves to serve in her local church, work behind the scenes for Journeywomen Ministries, and spend her free time growing in her love and knowledge of God and His Word. You can find her regularly playing outside with her kids, making new friends, and drinking coffee.