Focusing On What Really Matters: Picking Your Priorities

I went through a time recently when I had way too much on my plate. I was trying to do extra school every day, work on my novel, launch my blog, work toward guest posting for The Young Writer Blog, and more.

Well, as you might’ve guessed, I hit burnout. Bad. I was moody and tired, and hardly had time for anything (or anyone) else.

I realized that I needed to take a step back from everything I was doing and take some time to work through my priorities, so I could pick what was most important to focus on in my life, and what things I could take a break from.

So I made a list of the things that I was trying to prioritize, and realized it was a long list. Way too long for me to realistically live out.

I took some time to truly think about what things I really wanted to prioritize in my life—things that were actually important— and I was able to knock a few things off of that lengthy list.

Right away, I noticed a huge difference in my life and mental health, and others did too. All because I eliminated the things in my life that didn’t have to be there.

One of my favorite quotes (although I think I worded it a little wrong) is this: “You’re going to have to say ‘no’ to a lot of good things, in order to say ‘yes to the truly good things.”

The Scriptures talk about what things we are supposed to focus on. Colossians 3:1-2 says, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

One of the important things for us to do—as Believers— is to make sure our mind, our focus, is in the right place. On the right things.

When we focus on the things of this earth, it can be so easy to lose track of what’s really important. We can get caught up in our years appearances, trends, and things that ultimately just don’t matter.

When our focus is on Jesus, however, our perspective is different. When we see things that we would normally be drawn to, we look at it through the eyes of, “Would it be glorifying to God if I was involved in this?” or, “If Jesus was standing right beside me, would I feel comfortable taking part in this?”

When we look at things through the lens of, “Jesus is all that matters,” we get to see clearly what is actually important.

When I started spending more intentional time with the Lord, I began to see things through His eyes. I noticed that when I was so busy with school and writing that I had no time to spend with my family, I realized I wasn’t doing what Jesus would’ve done.

He always made sure to take time for people, and prioritize them. So I wanted to follow Jesus’s example. I started pushing aside the less important things in my life so that I could spend more time with the ones I loved.

In spending more time with the God, and trying to focus more on what really matters— like Him— my perspective changed, in a good way.

I began to see things, and decide whether or not they would be pleasing to God, versus whether or not they would be pleasing to me.

I want to encourage you to spend intentional time in the presence of God, like I talked about last week, in my post, Joy In The Midst of Trials.

One thing I do every day, is have a prayer time with my friend over the phone in the mornings before I start my day.

On the days I get up earlier in the morning, the day always goes better. Why? Because I chose God over sleep. Because I made sure He was my priority, and everything else fell into place after that.

When you take time to set your focus on Jesus, and He becomes your most important priority, He will help you get all of your priorities in order.