Creating life-changing priorities and sticking to them makes all the difference in the world. There was a time I was all over the place with my priorities, time and energy. Let me explain what I mean.
It always seemed hard to prioritize life until I learned a little secret.
I know you wanna know the secret too so keep reading…
Before I learned how to prioritize the things that were most important, I gave my full attention to things that didn’t matter, as a result, the most important things suffered.
Has this happened to you, when you feel like you’ve got everything under control
and then
you don’t, you thought you had prioritized everything but
Your kid comes in with a project due…
tomorrow (what! how could I have missed that)
Or have you been the type that is so driven you can’t see anything but God’s plan (or what you think is God’s plan)
or maybe it’s that you have no priorities, motivation or direction.
I’ve been all over the place with priorities.
and have had life fall apart because I wasn’t prioritizing correctly.
What could happen if a person is too focused on
marriages crumble, family systems die and maybe your partner is picking up the pieces while you are driven in your career.
The other extreme is that you aren’t trying at all. This could be for many reasons time, money, fear of failing. This is no good either because God doesn’t want you not to try anything or be afraid to try. He wants you to live up to your full potential that’s why He created you. Even now He knows your purpose even if you don’t yet.
So how do we create life changing priorities so we can live a God-centered life?
The only tangible answer I can give is God first, family second and career third. Let me go deeper into these three life-changing priorities.
God First
If everything we do is lead by God, we cannot fail. Life changing priority God first requires us to do the work, the heavy, uncomfortable (I don’t want to do it) work.
Yes ladies, get out your Bible daily, spending time with God and wait for what He wants you to do. Not speeding up for more money not slowing down because you think you can’t do something but actually waiting and enduring each trial with joy, as 1 James verse 2 tells us: Consider it all joy, my brethren when you encounter various trials, know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
God is always teaching lessons and usually when the lesson is over He shows us new insight or how to move forward with something.
So when we wait we learn
(btw I hate waiting I’m going to say that mantra during my wait you should try it with me)
When I wait I learn
Family Second
When you place God first it’s easier to focus on life-changing priority number two yourself and the family, easier to be a better wife, mother or single person. You realize you need time for yourself with God to be the best person you can be. You understand that your kids are going to grow up just fine because they are surrounded by Gods love (my most recent struggle).
Putting Family after God means creating the best balance you can with the tools you are given and giving yourself grace for the rest.
Yes,
In the bible, we see the example of the Proverbs 31 woman. She gets up early, does chores, makes things for her family and sells them. She is dressed nice too!
OK, who here thinks that’s a tall order?
Some days I hit that snooze phone alarm…
a lot, I don’t spend time with God, I rush out the door and in the
My best days are when I wake up early have time with God praying and talking to Him, reading scripture and meditating on his word with a cup of coffee and breakfast. On those days I am kinder, more patient and more loving.
The point of the Proverbs 31 women is not to compare us as women or make us do anything where we feel stressed out but that when we spend time with God we can be at our best.
Career Third
The third life-changing priority is our careers/ministry/volunteering which is all important to us. Working inside or outside the home can be challenging, but being afraid to try or too driven to see is not what God meant when He created you. God doesn’t want you to lose yourself in the process of glorifying Him.
Think about it this way, God is in the business of getting all the glory so if you are driven and doing all this “stuff” then justifying it by glorifying God (I did that) you are missing the mark.
or maybe you are on the other extreme where you are waiting for the right time to work, start a career, do something you’ve always wanted to do but feel for different reasons you cant. Here’s the thing with not starting the “thing” chances are the more you doubt yourself, your ability, your situation; the more your mind will play tricks on you (watch here on how to take back your life) and you may never start. I don’t know about you but when I leave this earth I want to know that I did everything that God wanted me to, I want Him to say well done my good and faithful servant.
If there is a dream you have of starting a business
or that thing that you have always wanted to do it may be God trying to tell you it is now time to start. If you have no definite answer yet, keep praying God will lead you to His will.
When you prioritize God first, family second and career third you will start to see a shift in your life things that you thought weren’t important become important and things that are important will start to die off. God shows us our way, what to put our trust in and what not to waste our time on. Our values, friends, relationships may shift and that is all part of Gods plan for you. What shifts can you make today to put God first?
Thank you Sara,
I was just thinking about this specific subject for a while now and how to prioritize my responsibilities; reading this really gives me the answers I needed and will continue to try to do it in this order. And thank you for the weekly Sunday emails they are full of inspiration and valuable advise.
Hi, Vanessa thank you for your encouragement and taking the time to implement this in your life. I look forward to sharing more helpful ways on how we can focus on God while living in the world!