“Excuse me?” I managed to squeak out. I had just explained to a woman that my existing commitments prevented me from accepting a leadership position for a local girls’ organization.
“I said I forgive you,” she repeated. “I forgive you for this, because Jesus forgave me for my sins.”
Hmm.
God does not require us to say yes to every request for our time and energy. It’s not a sin to know and communicate our limits. It’s not a sin to prioritize and make choices that best align with God’s purpose for ourselves and for the health of our families. Before adding another commitment to our lives, as good stewards of our time and energy, we can calculate whether we have the resources to see it through. We can consider whether that opportunity is something God would have us spend our time on.
The instructions in 1 Peter 4:10–11 make clear that we get to use our own gifts, not someone else’s. Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 12, we see that the body of Christ works for one purpose—God’s glory—even as we each have different roles to play. When we recognize which season of life we are in (including its limitations), we can more easily see the most pressing work laid out for us as well as the tasks that don’t fit within this frame. Understanding that our work was prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10), and that we are to work at it with all our heart (Col. 3:23), we can be confident as we focus our time and energy with discernment.
Jocelyn Green is the author of Free to Lean: Making Peace with Your Lopsided Life. Find her at JocelynGreen.com. Adapted from Free to Lean, © 2017 by Jocelyn Green. Used by permission of Discovery House Publishers, Box 3566, Grand Rapids, MI 49501. All rights reserved. www.dhp.org.
