Tyranny of the Urgent
My To Do List often contains things that I do every day. Some are work related and some are personal. I know that I’m going to need to do them and I would do them without a reminder. But, I put them on the list partly for the satisfaction of checking them off and mostly for the reminder that they are important, even necessary. Because some days get crazy. Things happen. We get pulled in a LOT of directions.
In the 1960’s, a guy named Charles Hummel wrote a booklet called ‘The Tyranny of the Urgent’. It is all about what is important and what is urgent. There is a tension in each day of our lives between the important things that need to be done and the urgent matters that crop up and scream for our attention and our immediate action. Often, the important things get overlooked for the emergencies. And not all of these emergencies are true emergencies! Oh, they may be urgent matters but not always meant to be MY urgent matters. Knowing the difference and how to manage them in our lives requires prayer for wisdom and discernment from God.
I’m wondering what could be different in our lives if we put a few declarations from God’s Word on our To Do list…not because they are tasks…but to serve as reminders of the IMPORTANT things in our day…so that they are not squeezed out by the urgent.
Here’s an example, what if we put Psalm 59:16 (NIV) at the top of our to-do list for today? “I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.” Today I WILL sing because You love me, God. Your strength and Your love are a fortress where I can feel safe and when I encounter trouble TODAY…I will take refuge in YOU. Now THAT is something to sing about!! And putting that high on our list of important things to focus on will help prepare us for truly urgent matters.
Read more devotions written by Denise Harper at Treasured Inside
https://deniseharper.blog
