A few months ago, my arms were overflowing as I tripped up the porch steps, spilling everything across the porch. I managed to salvage the most important item in my arms –our laptop –but the rest of my load crashed. It was the first in a series of events that opened my eyes to how busy we’d become. Not only were we busy, but I was exhausted, my kids said I didn’t laugh anymore and there was no time for family dinners or devotions. Too busy was what we’d become.

Are you busy? Do you have those days where you feel like one more thing will send your proverbial full plate crashing to the ground? Are you left exhausted, giving your family your leftover emotions and energy?

Hang on, sister, because I’m going to show you three ways to combat busyness, creating time in your schedule for your family, and leaving you with more energy and a full heart.

Moses was a man accused of being too busy and trying to do everything himself.

Are you familiar with his story? In Exodus 18, after the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt, they began their journey in the wilderness, wandering and waiting to enter the Promised Land. Not long afterward, Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, came to visit Moses. He’d heard of the miraculous rescue from Pharaoh in Egypt and he wanted to see Moses and hear of this great miracle himself. Moses told him about the plagues, the parting of the Red sea, the hardships they’d suffered since and the amazing answers to prayer –like bitter waters made sweet when the people complained about their thirst, the manna and quail from heaven when they were hungry, water from a rock to quench their thirst again, and the incredible victory over the Amalekites in battle.

Jethro praised the Lord for protecting and providing for the Israelites and he offered up a burnt offering and sacrifices right there.

The next day, Jethro watched Moses and all the things he was doing. Moses took his seat to hear the people’s disputes among each other and the people waited all day long for their turn.

Later, Jethro asked Moses, “Why are you doing this? What are you really trying to accomplish here? And why are you doing it alone when everyone stands around you from morning till evening?

Moses told him, “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. I’m the one who has to settle their arguments and give them God’s instructions from His decrees.”

Jethro said, “This is not good –you’re doing too much! You’re going to wear yourself out and the people too. This is too much for you to handle alone.”

This was thousands of years ago. Clearly, people doing too much is not a new problem.

So Jethro told Moses to continue being the people’s representative before God, bringing their disputes to him but he was going to have to delegate some of the work to trustworthy, godly, and capable men.

How many of us are like Moses, trying to handle everything on our own, exhausting ourselves and the people around us?

We MUST guard against busyness in our lives for several reasons –one, because Satan uses it as a wedge between us and God; two –because our families suffer when we are too busy; and three –because we cannot constantly disperse our energy without taking the time to recharge.

We simply cannot succeed when we are spread too thin.

If we are going to guard against busyness, there are three things we can must do—

Prioritize. You must define what is most important for you. Once you’ve identified your top 3-4 priorities, find a verse pertaining to each and write them down. For me, faith, family, and farming are the most important things in my life right now and I even have it as my tagline across my blog website so I see it every day and remember what is important to me. It’s too easy to be distracted by everyone else’s needs of us, so if we don’t prioritize, the most important people in our lives get our leftovers.

1. Faith. Deuteronomy 6:5 –Love the lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.
2. Family. Teach these things to your children, write them in the walls of your home. In Deuteronomy 5-6, Moses is giving the Israelites the Ten Commandments God had given him and he concludes with the greatest commandment –to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul. He tells them these words should be on their hearts and they should teach them diligently to their children and talk of them when they sit in their homes and when they walk by the way, when they lie down and when they rise up. They were to bind them as a sign on their hands and forehead. They were to write them on the doorposts of their house and on their gates.

When I was struggling with being this overwhelmed mom, I promise you –I wasn’t teaching these things to my children. At one point, my kids even told me, “You never laugh anymore and we haven’t read the Bible together in a long time.” (A long time to them is a couple of weeks but still…it was part of my wake up call having this pointed out to me. My family was suffering because I was doing too much.).

3. Farming. Or whatever your “thing” is. “Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

In this season, for us, farming comes first after our faith and family. Everything else falls in or out after that depending on what our schedule looks like. No matter what our priorities are, we must do them all to the glory of God. If we are overwhelmed, we can’t even give God our best at one thing, much less the many things we have taken on ourselves. Whatever you do –whatever your priorities are –do them all to God’s glory. Wholeheartedly. Energetically. Enthusiastically.

What are your priorities? Come up with 3-4 and write them down somewhere where you will see them every day so you never forget what is most important to you.

After you’ve defined your priorities, you have to organize.

Organize. When we organize, we typically get rid of things that have no meaning or have lost their meaning to us. If I’m cleaning out my junk drawer because it’s too cluttered, I’ll toss those things that have lost their meaning or I can’t remember what their meaning ever was. The wad of bread twisty ties? I’m sure I had great intentions with those but I can’t remember what they were for so they get trashed. No more taking up precious space. All those torn recipes I intended on experimenting with one day? They get tossed.

We must do declutter and get rid of things in our personal lives as well.

What’s cluttering up your life? What is draining you, taking away precious time you could be focusing on your priorities?

Is it the kid’s activities –sports, music, etc? Get rid of it for a season. Is it technology –Facebook, Twitter, Instagram? Limit your screen time. Whatever it is that’s overwhelming you, let go of it for a while. It’s not forever but just for a season because if you’re overwhelmed right now, then you must remove something from your schedule.

Maybe you committed to serving in the nursery on Sunday and leading a Bible study or Awana group on Wednesday and it’s too much? Take a break from one of them. You cannot pour into others if you’re too busy to be poured into yourself. Take time away from your current activities to rest in the Holy Spirit, being refreshed, revived, and renewed.

Maybe it’s not your schedule, but a fussy baby or trying toddlers. I hear you –I know how overwhelming that is! See if you can find an older woman or another friend who will come over and just give you a break –even if it’s only an hour a week.

After you’ve prioritized, and organized, we must strategize.

Strategize. How are we going to combat busyness?

1. Pray over your schedule and identify those things that are taking up useless space in your life, in your schedule and remove them. You might think, “I don’t have anything in my schedule to remove. It’s full of good things.” It may very well be full of good things –like teaching a Sunday school class, or working in the church nursery, or any number of things –but just remember, you can’t carry everything without eventually tripping. Overwhelming ourselves isn’t good for us or our people. Focus on the most important priorities.
2. Learn to say no, or at least, not right now. Saying no is hard sometimes but it’s crucial to learn to say no, or at least “not right now,” to protect your own sanity and promote your family unity.
3. Commit to prioritizing your faith and family first and then see what follows and what you realistically have time for. Write down encouraging verses for where you are at right now in life and tape them to your mirror or your fridge or wherever you’ll see them throughout the day. I find when I am reading Scripture throughout the day, it’s easier to remember what is the most important.

You are the only one who has the power to change your schedule and become less than busy. So next time someone asks you to sign up for something or volunteer for another position, take the time to pray and talk with your family about it before committing. Is it something you realistically have time for? Don’t be guilted or shamed into saying yes to another commitment. Use your God-given abilities and discernment to say “No” to all of the busyness around you, and commit to a more relaxed, simple lifestyle with plenty of time for your faith and family.

“Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

What will you choose?