Lessons learned too late

Last week’s column ended with Jesus’ words: “Do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

(Matthew 6:34)

There are some who, after reading these words, will think that Jesus is telling us just to coast along, taking life as it comes and letting fate determine how we will spend each day. That’s not how Jesus lived his life; and it’s not how we should be living ours.

Using these words as guidelines, and seeing how Jesus applied them in his own life, has helped me identify two important lessons I wish I had learned many years ago.

Lesson One: If you don’t set and enforce priorities for your life, others will do it for you.

No one understood this truth better than Jesus. From the moment his public ministry began, he had to deal with pressure to conform to the people’s idea of what a Messiah should be

Neil Strohschein

and do. Their demand was always the same. “If you are the Messiah, prove it!! Deliver us from slavery to Rome. Feed us when we are hungry. Heal us when we are sick. Keep our borders secure and protect us from outside interference in our affairs.”

That was all they wanted. But it was something Jesus could not give them. Whenever someone repeated one or more of these demands, Jesus’ answer was: “I have not come to do my own will; but the will of the one who sent me.” (John 6:38) That was Jesus’ priority. And he was not about to allow anything or anyone to change it.

Jesus was determined to glorify (bring honor to) his heavenly Father in everything that he thought, said and did. That should be our priority as well. If we adopt this as our life’s goal, God by his Spirit, will show us how to achieve it in our personal lives, in our homes and families, on the job, in our community and in our churches. And he will alert us when others try to set priorities for us that will pressure us to do their willnot God’s.

Lesson Two: There is no substitute for consistent, personal self-care.

Jesus understood this truth better than most of us do. He was no superman. He could not go for hours at a time without pausing to eat, drink, sleep or spend relaxing moments away from the crowds who were constantly making demands of him.

His biographers tell us of times when he went off by himself to pray; or when he took a nap in the stern of a fishing boat while his disciples sailed it across the Sea of Galilee. To do his work effectively, Jesus had to remain physically strong and mentally alert. He had to take good care of himself. And he would ask the same of you and me.

There is nothing wrong with saying “No” when asked to do things for which you do not have the time, the knowledge or the energy. Nor is there anything wrong with telling people that you need time away from work and other activities to get the uninterrupted rest that you need. We are responsible for our own self-care. If we don’t look after ourselves, no one else will-and we will pay the price for our negligence.

Please take these words to heart. I am still living with the consequences of my own negligence. I do not want anyone else to have to do the same.

Next week I will share some signs of emotional and spiritual burnout.