Get your priorities right!

Priorities, prioritize, time management, work life balance, organisation!
Do any of these words ring a bell?
What instantly comes to your mind when you read these words?

These words can conjure up a wide plethora of feelings from fear and dread, hopelessness and despair to accomplishment and triumph. It all depends on where you are presently in your life and what these words mean to you as an individual.

Personally, I have always found prioritising a bit of a challenge, due to the type of person that I am, because I always want to do a thousand things at the same time. Maybe it is typical for most women or for my particular stage in life, I just feel that there is always so many things that need doing and that they all need doing now. However, if I take a step back and a minute to think about them all, I would notice that there are some that are far more important than others.

In the book of Matthew Jesus gives us a clue as to how to organise our life and get our priorities right, He says "But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants", so what does that mean to us modern day women who live extremely hectic lives? Basically, God first! Let Him be the first thing that you think about when you open your eyes in the morning. Then before you start talking to your husband, children or even yourself have a little talk with God, say good morning to him, and thank him for waking you up and for giving you such sweet and desperately needed sleep. This is putting God first and not only do you have the satisfaction of being obedient to the word but also the benefits of getting your mind in order which will equip you for the rest of the day. By thinking about God first and thanking Him for the great things in your life you have just opened yourself up to a whole bunch of blessings; showing gratitude therefore making room for more good things, practicing to think positively which again will only bring good things into your life.

Do not take spending time in God's presence lightly or for granted, it is for your benefit and someone who knows a vast amount about the benefits of spending time with God is David. His fellowship with God was so intense that God actually called Him 'a man after my own heart'. In one of his numerous Psalms that he wrote, David talks about some of the benefits we receive and implores us not to forget them, some of these benefits are 'The LORD forgives our sins, heals us when we are sick, and protects us from death' and these are just the tip of the iceberg, there are so many benefits to spending time with God so instead of picking up our Blackberry and checking our messages first thing in the morning, our lives would profit greatly if the first person that we connected with was God.

Now as busy women a great way to ensure that we are getting everything done is by putting entries in our calendars and this includes spending time on a daily basis with God. Be just as committed to spending time with God each day and having your daily meeting and review sessions as you would with your boss, the doctors or dentist and do not allow His time to be rail-roaded by some other activity. Set your alarm and whatever it is that you were doing stop and go and have that appointment with God. Now if you are going to see this as a chore you are really missing the point and it will be worthless to you. Cultivating a vibrant and dynamic relationship with God is just the same as cultivating a relationship with any other friend. At first it might feel strange because you might think that you are talking o yourself but as you continue on a regular basis, you will begin to sense His presence and hear His voice as you pray, read and meditate on His word.

See this as a great privilege to be in conversation with the ruler of the Universe, wow, don't take it lightly. It is awesome that our God who is so huge, so magnificent, so wise and Holy should desire to spend time with us to give us the wisdom we are seeking for, the strength that we need to get through our day and to equip us with whatever it is that we need to make it in any area of our life.