The Power of Priorities

I set some hefty goals for this year, not like a New Year's resolution thing, just goals that I had started towards the end of last year but wanted to put more effort into this year. I am learning to speak Spanish, studying to earn a designation in my career field, getting physically strong, and most importantly spiritually strong.

I changed my wake-up time and created a morning schedule that allows me to hit all of my tasks early enough to knock them out before the rest of my world wakes up. The first thing I do every morning is spend time reading my Bible. Doing this first ensures that I do it before any distractions can come and lead me astray. This was happening often , before I was prioritizing, and the day would get away from me and as the day was coming to an end I would realize that I had missed a few marks on my goal list.

But I did not include writing on my list at first.

I had put off writing for some time because I did not see anything coming from it. I forgot why I do it and allowed lies to discourage and mislead me into believing it was a waste of my time. But I never lost the desire to do it. I just felt like I could not justify doing it, if that makes any sense. My heart was not it in.

I read the book of Haggai this morning, and something in it made me consider why I have been procrastinating on my writing. Why, if I enjoy it and if I felt three years ago that God wanted me to share my journey, did I stop? Why am I not at least trying?

When I first started writing, it was therapeutic. It allowed me to get out of my head and get my overwhelming thoughts out and make sense of them. Through my writing, I became closer to God.

As I started to share my writing, while I was still doing so much growing, I started to worry that I was sharing too soon. Because as I grow and learn, I realize that some of what I wrote in the past I understand differently now. I have found that as I am on this journey, although I do start to experience clarity and understanding during a lesson, it is often in hindsight that I really gain the full perspective of what God was showing me. I questioned my own wisdom and credibility.

I got stuck in negative thinking and allowed the lies to overwhelm and discourage me. So I just stopped.

I stopped doing one of the things that prevented these thoughts from taking me over. What God had shown me was both a gift and a tool that He had blessed me with.

The book of Haggai is a great lesson on the consequences of not prioritizing and the power of putting God's will first. We may not always know clearly what God's will is for us in certain matters. But we can be confident that our efforts and our attempts will keep us moving forward to figuring it out.

We may not always feel the motivation, we may not always see the benefits, and we may not always have confirmation. But as long as we are prioritizing time with God, we will find our way, and His will, will always come to be.

Failing to prioritize allows us to be misled and lose focus on not only our goals but also on the path God has placed us on. Lacking discipline and priorities opens the door for being led astray. Idleness allows us to quit moving and to become stuck. Fear will sneak in if we are idle too long, and it will discourage us and keep us from doing anything at all. Thoughts of failure, doubt, discouragement, and lies will fill the open space we leave for them if we are not continuously filling ourselves with God's wisdom.

I am adding writing to my morning list, making it a priority again. And I know that even on days I do not feel inspired to write, just like the mornings I do not feel inspired to work out, I will do it out of obedience. I may not see anything come from it right away, but just as my Spanish lessons slowly build my ability to speak and understand new words, my writing efforts too will create new growth in me as well. In hindsight, I see that setting priorities that keep me in Gods word and gaining wisdom and growing spiritually, have led me back to writing. I am excited to see now where my writing goes, as I continue to be disciplined. Maybe it had to be taken away for a short time, until I got my priorities aligned and refocused.

Do you have a daily priority list? If not, try to make one. And set time aside to make sure that the day does not get away from you and you forget or get distracted. Set a timer or calendar reminder on your phone if needed. It may require you to go to bed earlier, so you can get up earlier. Or it may require you to give up something that is taking up a slot of time that could be used for a better purpose. What may start as something that feels like a sacrifice will end up being something that you look forward to and that brings you feelings of accomplishment.

Do what it takes to create habits of discipline and prioritize time with God, and you might be surprised at the difference it makes in your life.