Busy lives

So hey, it’s been a while since I posted. Life has been seriously busy since Easter, and thinking about it today, 2 things came to mind.

Firstly, God understands when things get hectic, He understands when life gets in the way, and He understands that of all the vocations or work He gives us, each one has a season where it needs to be prioritised. Sometimes when we feel like we have let the ball drop in one area of our lives to take care of another, it can make us question ourselves, our ability, our commitment. It can make us feel like a failure.

The thing is, life happens! Even Jesus sometimes had things come up that changed his plans and priorities for a while! One moment He is busy preaching, bringing the good news to the people, healing people…. the next He hears the news that His dear friend Lazarus has died, and He prioritises going to see Martha and Mary who are mourning the loss of their brother.

Are both things important? Yes of course they are, but one will wait a while without too much damage being done, and the other… well that requires more urgent attention.

A Saint I’m a BIG fan of St Vincent de Paul, said this -

If a needy person requires medicine or other help during prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer the deed to God as your prayer. Do not become upset or feel guilty because you interrupted your prayer to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave him for such service. One of God’s works is merely interrupted so that another can be carried out. So when you leave prayer to serve some poor person, remember that this very service is performed for God. Charity is certainly greater than any rule.

So you see, sometimes the work that pulls you away from the thing you feel you ought to be doing, is the very thing you really ought to be doing in that season, so long as it is done for charity!

The second thing that came to mind was that sometimes, if that thing that pulls us away from our commitment or responsibility isn’t something out of charity or necessity, ie perhaps you’ve just got too busy because you said yes to everything, or you can’t stop watching that series on tv, or you need to see that football match or you just can’t be bothered, then maybe that’s a not so good influence. You know the devil doesn’t have to do much to keep us from God… sometimes he just needs to keep us busy!

I’ve definitely had some of the first events going on lately, but on reflection, if I'm honest, I’ve probably had some of the latter going on too!