Who You Gonna Call?

“When the sky falls, who am I gonna call? The One who put it up there in the first place.” – Brandon Heath (from his song ‘See Me Through It’) 

Work is hard. Home life is hard. Both can be full of amazing blessings, but I am not sure why I’m always surprised when either (or both) become hard. When things get hard I get my feelings hurt and sometimes throw my sucker in the dirt or throw a full-fledged tantrum (at least in my head). 

I do all this despite Jesus telling us to expect troubles in this world (in this world you will have trouble…John 16:33). I also seem to forget that many years ago I chose the “narrow” path and Jesus said that it would be “difficult” (Matthew 7:14). I should be ready for and expecting the hard stuff. I also should know who to call when the going gets rough. 

Just like Brandon Heath in his song, it makes sense to call the author of time and the designer of us when we don’t seem to have enough time to get it all done. 

Principle 1 in Jordan Raynor’s “Redeeming Your Time” is to start with the Word. Here is how Raynor defines this principle:

To redeem our time in the model of our Redeemer, we must first know the Author of time, his purposes for the world, and what he has called us to do with the time he has given us. 

As Raynor does throughout the book, he provides practices that we can implement to put the principle into practice. 

Practice 1 – Spend Time with the Author of Time

Before I went through this book and course my quiet time practice was brief, to say the least. When you have too many tasks on your list that all seem to have a deadline, spending time to
“be still” just doesn’t seem to be the most practical use of time. 

But, Raynor did such an excellent job outlining why we should start our days with God, that I have put quiet time with God back into my daily schedule. My quiet time doesn’t always happen. I am sure it is way too short, but I am spending more time with God than I did before reading this book and my life has improved because of it. Let’s look at why our days should start with God. 

1 – As Christians, our job is to become more like Christ every day. Despite his hectic life the gospels are full of instances of Jesus making time to be alone with God. If Jesus, God’s son, found it essential to be alone with His Father, I should too. 

2 – Apart from God we are toast. Apart from Him, we can do nothing that will have eternal significance. John 15:5 clearly states, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

3 – Time in scripture gives us more time. This is tough for me to grasp. How does spending 15 mins with God, that I can never get back, actually give me more time in my day? Well, it helps that God is the author of time and the official timekeeper. Check out these scriptures:

• Proverbs 9:10-11 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.”
• Proverbs 10:27- “The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.”

Time in God’s Word is the ultimate “keystone habit”. According to Charles Duhigg’s excellent research on the subject, “keystone habits start a process that, over time, transforms everything.”

Check out Jordan’s book for some excellent tips and techniques for creating your own quiet time practice. 

The busier we get, the more we need time with God. Relationships take time and the goal here is a relationship with our Lord and Savior. Only He can help us live more productive lives.

“I have so much to do today, I’ll need to spend another hour on my knees.” – Martin Luther

Practice 2 – Pray What You Know

Raynor is a huge fan of Phil Knight’s autobiography, “Shoe Dog.” So much so that I’m going to put it on my Audible list. In the early days of building Nike, Knight would come home from his incredibly difficult and often disappointing days and deliver what he called his “self-catechism.” His catechism consisted of a six-mile run and asking himself the following five questions:

• What do you know?
• What else do you know?
• What does the future hold?
• What is Step One?
• What is Step Two?

Similarly, as Christians, we should preach to ourselves what we know to be true – scripture. Raynor prays the following prayer at the beginning of each day:

Lord – thank you that my longing for timelessness is not a mirage. Thank you for setting eternity inside my heart (see Ecclesiastes 3:11). 

I humbly recognize that I will die with unfinished symphonies but that if my work is aligned with your will, you will finish my work in your time. As John the Baptist said, “I am not the Christ (John 1:20), and therefore I do not need to complete my to-do list in order for your purposes to prevail (see Proverbs 19:21).

Father, thank you that through Jesus I can never lose my status as your adopted child; thus, I have no need to be productive. But, I graciously accept your invitation to do as many good works as I can for your glory, the good of others, and the advancement of your kingdom.

Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Lord, I commit my day and my to-do list to you. Establish my plans in accordance with your will. Help me to purposeful, present, and wildly productive for your purposes today. 

But regardless of how productive I am, I will know that you love me. May the security of your love make me both peaceful and ambitious to do your will today. Amen.

As Christians, we want to be productive in the perspective of eternity. To do that, we must start our days with the author of time. Only then, can we productively implement the more “practical” habits that we will cover in future articles.

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