Stewarding Your Time Well
Feel like there's never enough time and wonder where the days keep going? In this episode, discover how wise living means making the most of your time, saying "no" to good things so you can say "yes" to the best.
Feel like there's never enough time and wonder where the days keep going? In this episode, discover how wise living means making the most of your time, saying "no" to good things so you can say "yes" to the best.
Have you ever reached the end of a week and wondered where all the time went?
You were busy every day, emails, meetings, tasks, demands, but the things that matter most got pushed aside again. Time with God. Time with family. Rest. Reflection. The urgent kept winning, and the important kept losing. Everyone is busy, but few people feel like they're actually spending their time wisely.
In this episode, we look at the work of Charles Hummel, a college administrator who noticed the same troubling pattern in the mid-20th century. In his classic booklet Tyranny of the Urgent, Hummel argued that the key to wise time stewardship is learning to distinguish between what's urgent and what's truly important, because they're often not the same thing. He pointed to Jesus as the model. Jesus never seemed rushed. He said no to crowds when it was time to pray. He walked away from demands when it was time to rest. He finished His mission without doing everything people wanted Him to do.
Through Hummel's insight and Ephesians 5:15–16, you'll see that making the most of your time doesn't mean doing more; it means doing what matters most and letting the rest wait.
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:
- Why being busy and being wise are not the same thing, and how to tell the difference
- How the "tyranny of the urgent" quietly steals time from your deepest priorities
- Practical ways to protect time for what matters most before the urgent demands take over
You cannot do everything, not even all the good things. But you can do the right things. That's what wise living looks like.
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A college administrator in the mid-20th century notices
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a troubling pattern in himself and everyone around him. Charles
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Hummel watched as urgent tasks constantly crowded out important
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ones. The phone call that demanded immediate attention.
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The meeting that couldn't wait. The deadline that screamed
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loudest. Meanwhile, deeper priorities, things like family,
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prayer, and long-term vision, kept getting pushed to tomorrow.
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Everyone was incredibly busy, but few felt like they were
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actually spending their time wisely. The urgent was winning
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and the important was losing.
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the things that matter most keep slipping through our fingers?
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Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger, and
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today we're talking about time, or more specifically, when
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there's not enough of it. Ephesians 5, 15, and 16 says, So
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be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those
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who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil
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days. Paul doesn't tell us to cram more into our schedules. He
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tells us to be careful how we live. There's a difference
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between being busy and being wise. Busy people fill every
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hour. Wise people choose what fills their hours. Make the most
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of every opportunity doesn't mean do everything. It means do
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the right things. It means recognizing that time is limited
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and choices matter. Every yes to one thing is a no to something
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else. And if you don't decide what gets your time, other
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people and urgent demands will decide for you. That's the trap
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most of us live in. We react to whatever screams loudest. The
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email that just came in. The text that needs a response. The
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crisis that feels urgent. And, at the end of the day, we
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realize the things that matter most. Like time with God, time
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with family, rest, reflection, long-term growth got pushed
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aside again. The urgent crowds out the important. And weeks
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turn into months, and months turn into years, and we wonder
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where the time went. Wise time stewardship starts with clarity.
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What actually matters most? Not what feels most pressing in the
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moment, but what will matter in 10 years, in eternity. Your
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relationship with God, your family, your health, your
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calling. Those rarely scream for attention, but they're the
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things you will regret neglecting. Once you're clear of
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what matters most, the next step is protection. You have to guard
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time for the most important things before the urgent things
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steal it. That might mean putting prayer and scripture on
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your calendar like an appointment. It might mean
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blocking time for your spouse or kids that you don't cancel for
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work. no to good opportunities so you can say yes to the best
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ones. The truth is, you can't do everything. Not even all the
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good things. Wise living means choosing, and choosing means
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some things don't get done. But that's okay. Better to do a few
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things faithfully than do a hundred things frantically, or
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the wrong things, or things that aren't that important. In 1967,
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Hummelt wrote a short booklet called Tyranny of the Urgent
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that became a classic. I remember reading it a number of
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years ago. His argument was simple but powerful. The key to
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wise time stewardship is learning to distinguish between
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what's urgent and what's truly important, because they're often
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not the same thing. He pointed to Jesus as the model. Jesus
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never seemed rushed. He said no to crowds when it was time to
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pray. He walked away from demands when it was time to rest.
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He finished His mission without doing everything people wanted
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Him to do. I think we can learn from Jesus to make the most of
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every opportunity. Making the most of your time doesn't mean
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doing more. It means doing what matters most and letting the
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rest wait. Jesus had the same 24 hours you do. He faced demands
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and crowds, needs, and interruptions. But He never
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seemed frantic. Why? Because He knew His priorities. He knew
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what the Father had called Him to do, and He let everything
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else take a number. You can live that way too. Not by adding more
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hours to the day. Nobody can. But by being more intentional
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with the hours you have. Here's today's challenge. Take 10
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minutes this week to write down your top 5 priorities. The
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things that matter most in your life. Then, look at your
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calendar from the past week. How much time actually went to those
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priorities? If there's a gap, ask yourself, what urgent things
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have been crowding out the most important ones? Then, make one
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change. Block time for one important thing that's been
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getting neglected. And then, protect it. And when something
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urgent tries to take its place, remind yourself, wise living
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means making most of my time, not just filling it. Lord, we
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confess that we often let the urgent crowd out the important.
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We fill our days with busyness, but neglect the things that
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matter most. Teach us to be wise with our time. Help us to say no
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to good things, so we can say yes to the best things. Show us
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what you've called us to focus on, and give us the courage to
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let the rest wait. In Jesus' name, amen. If this episode
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encouraged you, would you share it with someone who's feeling
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overwhelmed and stretched too thin? Just send them the link
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from the show notes. They may need this reminder that wise
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living isn't about doing more. It's about doing what matters
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most. Thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.
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Remember, make the most of every opportunity by saying no to good
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things so you can say yes to the best. Come back next time for
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more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth.
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Until then, God bless and have a great day.
