Lately I've been struck at how full my life has become. Between family, friends, church, home and job as a hospital chaplain (complete with a pager that seems to go off when it's least convenient), my calendar doesn't have much white space. I am, in a word, busy. As a churchgoer, I've heard countless sermons on the dangers of being busy. But lately I'm beginning to think that maybe busyness is not the real problem. Instead, I'm moving towards identifying a different issue—a deeper one—that begs addressing. The issue of how I choose to respond to God, and others, in the midst of my busyness. In other words: Do I choose to remain available to love/serve others in those moments that are not planned, not scripted, or fail to fit neatly into my schedule?

As a woman who longs to lead as Jesus led, this question moves me to look at Jesus' view of busyness. And as I read the Gospels, a shocking reality emerges: it doesn't appear that Jesus had a problem with busyness. Just consider his life. Jesus was constantly on the move, traveling from town to town, engaging religious leaders, healing the sick, casting out demons, sitting with outcasts, mentoring disciples, teaching multitudes, etc. I am fairly confident that if Jesus had carried a Blackberry, or an iPhone, his calendar would have appeared full to overflowing, not to mention his email inbox. However, unlike most of us, he never allowed his busyness to trump his availability.

Even in the midst of busyness, Jesus stayed ever watchful for unscripted opportunities to love and serve—always ready for ministry in the moment. In fact, multiple times throughout the Gospels we encounter some variation of the phrase, "As he (Jesus) was on his way." This phrase consistently precedes stories of Jesus stopping to help someone in need. No matter where Jesus was headed—or what he needed to accomplish—he was never too pressed, too hurried, too stressed, too preoccupied to stop and minister in the moment.

But what allowed Jesus to remain available? How did he manage to stay open to interruptions amidst the craziness of his life? One striking idea surfaces as I read accounts of Jesus' life: Jesus clearly understood his purpose/calling and prioritized accordingly.

For example, the Gospel of Luke tells the story of Jesus, at only 12 years of age, lingering at the temple to dialogue with the religious leaders. When Jesus' parents finally find him, and question what he is doing, he responds: "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house." Translation: "Are you surprised that doing my Father's business is my primary purpose?" Maybe you're wondering what your calling/purpose is? Well, Jesus gives us place to start when he instructs us to focus our lives around two activities (and two activities only): Loving God and loving others (Matthew 22:36-40).

Understanding his purpose allowed Jesus to prioritize. Understanding our purpose allows us to do the same. Many leaders I know (myself included) struggle with prioritizing. In the spirit of wanting to help everyone, we tend to stretch ourselves too thin; and in doing so we risk rendering ourselves less effective than if we'd set good boundaries at the start. But, Jesus did not try to do it all (even though, as God in flesh, he was certainly capable). Instead, Jesus stayed focused on carrying out his Father's will to lovingly invite the sinners, the broken and the undeserving back into relationship with God. And with this priority in mind, Jesus was always willing to stop and care for the leper, the outcast, the ‘least of these' who needed his touch even in the midst of his busy life.

The fact that Jesus found it important to clearly articulate his purpose, and prioritize his time accordingly, challenges me to ask myself if I can do the same. As women called to godly leadership, I believe we must spend time in prayer, study of God's Word and dialogue with other godly individuals to better understand what it looks like to live out the two-fold purpose of loving God with abandon, and loving others as ourselves. Only as we do this, we will begin to better discern which interruptions are really opportunities and be better prepared to be ministers in the moment.