Do you ever feel frustrated, former procrastinators, because daily survival overcomes all else and you never get to the other things you sense the Lord prompting you to do? I do, and it makes me feel sad and guilty.
Want to sing in a choir? Take sailing lessons? Go overseas with a mission organization? These can be callings from God, and it troubles us not to give these interests attention. We say wistfully “Someday…” but we’re afraid someday may never come.
For me, there are two large categories of priorities – 1) daily duties and 2) deep desires. Daily duties include requirements for working a job or school, running the house, serving my family, and personal necessities.
I call deep desires those things I believe God is calling me to beyond my daily duties. Maybe you call them dreams. Deep desires or dreams are easy to put off because daily requirements take so much time and energy.
Without assuming we know His answer, we take this dilemma to the Lord.
Perhaps this is a season in which He directs you to concentrate on family or health and nothing else. Rest easy about that. Then, with confidence in His leading, set aside your “outside desires” for now. Trust Him because He is at work.
Sometimes God plants a seed that He does not bring to fruition until years later. Other times we are the ones who fail to water the seed that could be growing in the meantime.
As Christ followers, we value what He does and seek to order our days accordingly. He values the daily services; He also values the additional callings He’s placed in our hearts. If He prompts us, do we prioritize those? Do we build them into our routine? Or, is our default position “I can’t”?
With His prompting and confidence in His leading, prioritize the deep desires and build them into your routine. Go there! Trust Him because again, He is at work.
Maybe He will guide you to participate in your interest in a limited way. (Once a month you can paint or tutor) Maybe He will guide you to pursue your desires more fully. (Paint each morning or join a faculty)
If the Lord prompts, we must view our someday dreams as priorities in our regular week or month. It may be 10 minutes to quilt, 15 minutes to study a language, 30 minutes to write, but we show up and focus on that “someday dream” now. We give Him our loaves and fishes.
This relieves the sense of frustration, guilt, overwhelm, failure. We can look back at the end of the month or year with rejoicing and not regret. We see progress where before there was none.
Determining priorities and setting up routine helps with both daily duties and deep desires. We can use priorities and routine to move God-given dreams into our regular week.
What someday dream will you build into your routine this year? Where?
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