What Did Jesus Do?

"Workaholic..."
"Overdoer..."
"A glutton for punishment..."
"Do you ever stop and smell the roses?..."

These are comments that people have said about me. I am a doer, I like to work, I like to fill my schedule (I like seeing my calendar filled because it makes me feel important), I pay attention to detail, and I am a perfectionist. I am so much of those things that rather than being virtues, they have become my vices; part of that issue with needing to do more for the Lord, that struggle with works righteousness. So, these attributes about me are my vices because rather than doing with a joyful and thankful heart and as unto the Lord, when my plans don't turn out my way, I become impatient, frustrated, and angry, and then I act out on those emotions. Unfortunately, most of the time my children and my husband are at the receiving end of my darts of "wrath."

Many loving friends had told me to slow down and remove some things from my schedule. I didn't listen. So, in His sense of humor, ok, out of His love for me, the Lord did it for me, and put me on bed rest. Ha ha ha, yes, I am laughing out loud! I was probably on the verge of a nervous breakdown, especially as I struggled with anxiety over making my house "perfect" before my parents come out to help us, and juggling homeschooling, soccer, doctor appointments, dentist appointments, play dates, coffee dates, birthday parties, fellowship gatherings, cooking, shopping, keeping the budget, paying bills, clothes changeovers, shopping for clothes, coordinating and delivering meals, teaching and helping in Sunday School, while caring for 4 children and being pregnant. These all sound like normal things that every mom does, but not only am I doer, but I am an over doer and a perfectionist, so it may take me twice as long to do something because there's a pride issue I have about doing something, doing it right, and looking good too. Therefore, it is very humbling when the Lord tells you to rest by taking away your physical ability to do anything. Yet, He needed to tell me, "Gen, Gen, you are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better. (Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what Jesus said.)” (Luke 10:39-42)

So, how should we use our time?

Here is where I think we ought to look to our bridegroom, our head, for an example of how to use our time...What did Jesus do?

All throughout the book of John, there are several things that Jesus consistently says:
- "I am doing the very work the Father gave me to finish."
- "The One who sent me is true...I know him. I am from him, and he sent me."
- "The right time has not come yet."

Jesus doesn't always say these things exactly as those phrases above, but he often speaks of doing and finishing the work his Father gave him, knowing the Father, and knowing when the right time was and was not. As I read through the book of John, I was always amazed to see Jesus doing exactly what the Father, God, called him to do, nothing more and nothing less. Why? Because "Jesus did not try to please himself. He tried only to please the One who sent him." (John 5:30) In fact, he hid from receiving any sort of glory for himself, "Jesus knew that they planned to come and force him to be their king. So he went away again to a mountain by himself." John 6:15

Jesus knew that he had specific people to heal and specific miracles to perform. He could have healed every one, but he didn't.

Jesus knew where to go to preach and he knew what to preach.

Jesus knew when to rest, "...and as they sailed Jesus fell asleep." (Luke 8:23)

Jesus was so in tuned with God's call for himself that he used his time to do his Father's will and to finish the work that his Father gave him to do.

Once again, I ask, how then should we use our time?

By following what Jesus did. We too ought to seek out God's call for us and use our time to do His will and to faithfully finish the work that our Father gave us to do.

And how did Jesus know what His call was?

Jesus knew the Word. We know this because when he was tempted by Satan he fought Satan's temptations with the Word. Jesus said to Satan 3 times, "It is written:..." In order for Jesus to be able to say that, he must have known what the Word was. (Matthew 4:1-11)

Jesus prayed, "And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed." (Mark 1:35)

Jesus tried to please the One who sent him. (John 5:30)

So, our steps in understanding our call ought to be the same. We ought to read, pray, and aim to please God. Then, as we understand what our calling is, we then use our time to faithfully finish the work our Father gave us to do.

For example, I have 4 children, all still very young and dependent on me, with 1 on the way. Sometimes I have felt guilty for not being more involved in church ministries because I have heard comments made about how some parents idolize their children and don't serve in the church body. "Well, I am not that parent who idolizes my children and I WILL serve in the church body." Yet, I am discovering how much time godly training really takes and even how much time homeschooling takes and how much time having newborns and toddlers take. So, at this season of life, because God has given us 4 going on to 5 living children, my first call after being my husband's helper or as part of being my husband's helper, is to focus on the godly, heart training and nourishment of my children. Also, by God's covenant, are they not a part of Christ's body? (Just sayin'...) That may mean serving in areas of ministry that don't require extra time away from home or from my children. That may mean saying no to extra curricular activities because it takes too much travel time and too much time away from home. That may mean finding a more family friendly ministry where the children are able to be involved to learn more about one anothering. That may mean just opening up our home and being willing to use our home as a place of ministry to encourage others. That may mean taking the time to just pray with my children, teaching them that prayer is one of the best ways to serve others because we are trusting in a very BIG God and HIS work. That may mean saying NO to many GOOD things, particularly if they are not the best activities that line up with what God's call is, remembering to pray, read, and please God. Lastly, I must also remember that the activities for our children ought to be accomplishing God's call for their life too.

In addition to understanding our call, we ought to be gracious in understanding that every one else has a different call from God, "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function." (Romans 12:4) On the one hand as one who wants to do much, just because someone else is able to juggle 10 different things and can do this and can do that, that doesn't mean you are called to. You could be that person whom God only gave 1 talent to. Be faithful with that 1 thing and God will put you in charge of many. On the other hand as one who is calling for help from others, sometimes there is a lot of need for help and there are some people who will volunteer to help and there are others who do not volunteer. Granted, there are people who sit on the fence and don't do anything out of fear of commitment and they disobey their call from the Lord and don't serve, but there are some people who are genuinely not called at that time to serve. Here's where we ought to be gracious (and not judgmental) as well in understanding that not every one is meant to serve here or there. Perhaps some are just called right now to be still and know God. Does that mean that God's purpose will not be accomplished? Does that mean you have to do more work because you don't have enough help? No! God is sovereign and His perfect plan will come to pass whether we do anything about it or not. It's more of an issue of, in our doing or not doing, are we faithfully pleasing God?

As I am on bed rest, the 1 talent or the 1 thing the Lord has asked of me is to REST because rest, right now, is how I am serving this little one in the womb to preserve her best developmental time in the womb. How do I know this? There have been a few instances while on bed rest where I have over estimated what I can do and then have over done and at the end of the day the contractions have increased in frequency and intensity to the point where I think I need to return to the hospital again. Doesn't that remind you of kids and how they try to push the limits? By God's grace, through stopping and resting, he has continued to keep the baby safe and is teaching me to just be still. And as I'm learning to be still, I'm trying to be faithful with my time by reading more of God's word, praying more for others, and meditating more, particularly on living by God's grace through faith and how to put faithful obedience to action so that when I am no longer on bed rest I have some sort of resolution of how I ought to change to use my time just as Jesus did.

Well, this is for those who are like me who think they need to do more..."I'm not so important in God's universe that I can't afford to rest." (Kevin DeYoung)