Week Two Recap

Okay, so this week's study was pretty great! For one thing, we had 8 wonderful ladies (including one visitor-welcome!) show up, and for a second thing, it was only 94 out, with a breeze!  I'm so looking forward to not sweating all the time!

I apologize for any grammatically crazy sentences this time, it's 6:40am and I haven't had coffee yet. :)

Chapter 2 was titled - "Balancing Time and Responsibilities" basically, how to fix your "juggling act" from the week before!

Remember when you were a kid and couldn't wait to be responsible enough to be allowed certain things? A pet, a privilege, to be in on discussions and decisions, a later bedtime, freedom to do things without mom and dad?  Well is it just me, or does responsibility come back to bite you?  The more we grow, and the more responsibilities we take on, the more we have to juggle to maintain and the more frantic and fried we become.  We used to beg for the right to be responsible, and now it's just not so much fun, is it?

Section 1 reminds us that "life is short" therefore, "time is short".  In today's society, it's a challenge just to survive our daily routines! But really, compared to eternity, our time span is pretty minute. Psalm 39:11 compares our lives to a "vapor", fleeting and temporary and only visible for a very short while.

Section 2 uses Psalm 90:9 to compare our lives to a "sigh", or depending on the translation "a tale being told", something short lived, and easily forgotten or overlooked. How many times have you heard an illustration, and not realized it's relevance until later, possibly when it was too late to be helpful? Our lives can be that way too, if we're not wise with our use of time.

We're encouraged to use our time wisely in Section 3.  Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5 tell us to "redeem" our time, and make the most of it.  When I hear "redeem", my mind instantly goes to coupons. If you redeem them wisely, you get way more back than the value of the amount of effort it took you to cut it out and take it with you to the store. Not that using our time wisely should have a self seeking motive, but it's just the way the cycle works.  When you're using your time the way God wants you to, He rewards that.  You are the happiest when you're making someone else happy, even if that other "person" is God, you'll be better for it. 

Alot of people think they need more to be happy, but having more just leads to more work!  How can more work make you happier? We don't always know what is best for ourselves. If we want a raise, that usually comes with a promotion, which usually comes with more responsibility. If we want a bigger house, that comes with more housework and higher utility bills. We should learn to be content with the life we have and simply re-adjust, or organize the things we already have. 

In Section 4 we're encouraged to be wary of things that distract us from our good responsibilities.  Acts 17:21 talks about men of that day wasting away their time talking about the latest things.  Kind of like we waste our time talking about the latest news  or gossip. As much as I love Facebook, it's a beast to keep from taking over my life!  Figure out what your weaknesses and distractions are so you can keep them under control.

Section 5 was a "True" or "False" exercise using scripture.  I'm going to list the passages that gave us "True" information and I encourage you to read them yourselves.
John 7:6
Acts 3:19
Romans 13:11
1 Peter 5:6

In closing we talked about how every season of our lives have a different set of priorities and goals. Have you had to set aside some of those plans because of the chaos you were living in? What have you learned from this? Were some things not as important as they seemed at the time? Has God used those sacrifices (and also the victories) to teach you something specific?

The prayer suggestions really hit home this week.  We don't want to regret the way we've used our time.  We should pray for clarity and courage,  to say both "yes"  to the things God wants us to use our time for, and "no" to the things that will distract us from living the life He's intended for us.