When I Have Time...

 

"When I have time, I'll read that book that needs to be read."

"When I have time, I'll write that blog post."

"When I have time, I'll clean my room."

I have personally been guilty of saying every one of these in some form or another over and over again. I never say, "I'll go do that right now." I never hop up when I'm relaxing and decide to go write a thousand words on something I'm trying to finish. It mostly gets put off until the last minute and then I freak out and the completed work is not as good as it should be.

This is most certainly not a way to glorify God with my work and actions. He expects me to give my all and do it for His glory. I mean, isn't that one of the biggest reasons we were placed on this earth? To glorify God?

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I need to do whatever I do to glorify God. That doesn't mean waiting until the last second. It doesn't mean rushing through it to finish and have free time. It doesn't mean giving the bare minimum in creativity on a project, making it easy.

It means taking the time to plan, work on, and complete a project with care. I'm going to stop putting things off and hurrying through them. I am instead going to take the time that I seem to think does not exist and do things well.

What's the point of finishing the book if you didn't learn anything from it?

What's the point of writing the blog post if you didn't think about it or edit it?

What's the point of cleaning your room if you're just going to stuff things in the closet to become a mess later?

What's the point of doing anything if you are not doing it to bring God glory? 

You don't have to go to a third world country as a missionary to glorify God. You can glorify Him by having a cheerful and willing heart as you babysit younger siblings. Or make dinner. Or do the laundry. Or write a paper.

I confess this has not been my attitude lately. I have complained, been angry, become frustrated, and been impatient. I can't change that on my own. I need God to help me with it. Funny how that works. We need God to help us glorify Himself. We can't do it ourselves and that is just so humbling.

I usually end up surprising myself while I'm writing blog posts, taking a totally different direction than I had at first intended. I have definitely done that today. I expected to write about how I waste time and should stop and work harder. Instead, I ended up with a post about how I can glorify God by doing just that. It's so much fun to see what you can learn just by letting your mind wander. For example, I'm not only doing wrong by a human standard when I put off that project until the day before it's due. I'm not letting my actions show that I'm a Christian when I complain about my workload. I'm not fighting the good fight when I selfishly take free time when there is work to be done.

I pray that God will help me change so that I am glorifying Him through every word I say and deed I do. I will fall, blunder, and backslide. I am not perfect. That just goes to show that He must love us an awful lot to keep being there for us even as we make mistakes over and over again.

-Kira