Larry W. Tippets shared on:
Ordering and Balancing Our Lives—Priorities
You may be familiar with the saying “The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what we want most for what we want at the moment.” Consider how the hours of your day are being used. Other than time at work or in school, time filling church callings, time spent with necessary personal and family needs (sleeping, eating, bathing, grocery shopping, cleaning, caring for children, etc.), what are you doing in the remaining time allotted to you? I realize some readers are in an exceptionally busy time of life, but that is all the more reason to carve out some sacred space for spiritual exercise.
Elder David A. Bednar reinforced the important principle of prioritizing our time. “As you study, as you examine your own life, as you seek inspiration, you will come to know [what is most important]. Many young people are diverted from what is essential because they say yes to so many things that are nice, but not necessary.” Elder Bednar continued, “When you say no to something that is nice but not necessary, ultimately you are saying yes to something that is essential” (Elder Bednar speaks to Ogden Institute of Religion,” Church News, 19 October 2010). “Good” and “better” become obstacles if they keep us from the “best” (See Dallin H. Oaks, “Good, Better, Best,” November 2007)
The words of George MacDonald, my favorite non-LDS writer, have repeatedly lifted me: “In all of life there is nothing so significant as the next five minutes and whether we use it to do what God lays before us” (The Musicians Quest [Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers, 1984], 228). He also said, “I think the moment we are not feeling near Him, we should make haste to lay hold upon Him” (Glen Edward Sadler, An Expression of Character: The Letters of George MacDonald [Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994] 287). Day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, spiritual exercises are ways of doing this. Bring Christ into everything you do—work, social life, repairing the sprinkler system, relaxing with a book or movie, or watching a football game. Remember the yeast principle—a little has a large impact on the whole. Spiritual exercises need not take an exorbitant amount of time, but they will help to sanctify all you do.
I read a delightful book written in the seventeenth century by an obscure Catholic monk known as Brother Lawrence. His work in the monastery was primarily to cook and clean for the other monks. He developed a simple philosophy of dedicating everything he did to Christ. When he peeled potatoes, he peeled them for Christ. When he cleaned out the latrines, he cleaned them for Christ. Brother Lawrence turned every mundane task into a spiritual exercise. He understood the Savior’s statement: “Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). His writings, entitled Practicing the Presence of God, have been preserved for nearly four hundred years. ~ Larry W. Tippets, ‘Receiving Personal Revelation’ (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc. 2017),
