Not apart of your plans

I won’t pretend that as a college student I’m at the maximum level of busyness that a human normally faces. At each stage in life, we find that our time is more and more valuable and that any time left remaining is more and more precious.

That being said, I feel comfortable saying there are a lot of things that I either have or want to do that stretch my time relatively thin. And by that, I even mean time to relax and watch a movie — that’s time that I try to leave for myself intentionally to make sure that I’m able to unwind.

But here’s the dangerous trap in meticulously planning my day — I make God just that. A plan. I live in the world He created, breathing in the air He formed through the lungs He gave me. Yet I find myself thinking of how I need to remember to read the Word or pray when I find time of solitude.

I have many, many aspects of my life that have nothing to do with being spiritual. I play basketball at the gym, go to class, write stories for the paper — at face value, none of these things bring value to God or further His kingdom. In fact, most of my time and energy is spent towards things not of his nature, leaving my remaining energy for Him which is often sacrificed in exchange for sleep or just browsing Twitter endlessly.

In reality, God should encompass every aspect of our lives. But, that’s difficult. That even feels impossible. Thankfully, we serve a compassionate God. We serve a God that despite our constant misuse of time and personal resources, He loves us anyways and pursues our hearts with a never-ending spirit.

But, that doesn’t mean we should be content to fail.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6: 19–21

I love this passage but it’s both convicting and full of hope. We should be very wary of living lives based around earthly matters that are eventually meaningless but we should also be full of celebration because we have space in heaven for us where we will encounter eternal treasure in a seat at the right hand of God.

I hope that this serves as a reminder to not live our lives leaving space for God but instead living a life that is forever changed by God in action, speech and thought.