In the midst of a building program there is the danger of neglecting ministry. Deacon's meetings, renovation committee meetings, relocation committee meetings, future building plan committee meetings, budget and finance meetings, meetings with builders, and meetings with bankers consume our time. Meetings! Meetings!! And more meetings!!! These are essential and must have a place in our schedule, but if other priorities are neglected then something is wrong. Let me put it this way...Sunday is still on the calendar (every week!), shut-ins still need to be visited, people are still having surgery, suffering hasn't magically gone away, and God still longs for us to talk with Him through prayer.
We often say, "I just don't have the time!" I've used that excuse (and just maybe some reading this have as well), but we must realize that it is an incorrect statement from God's perspective. God has given us all the time we need to do His will. It is just a matter of prioitizing...or re-prioritizing.
Do you understand that Satan doesn't want us to have priorities that puts God first? He wants us to be busy about doing good things so that the best things get neglected. He wants us to get so wrapped up in the process of building (a good thing) so that we spend less time praying and devoting ourselves to God's Word (the best things). I believe it would put a smile on the devil's face if we got lost in planning where the babies, children, students and adults will meet for Sunday school all the while neglecting the very ones we want to put in those rooms.
Paul understood the tyranny of the adversary on our time when he wrote,
Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).
Take note that he wrote, "making the best use of the time." I am trying to ask myself throughout each day as meetings arise and decisions need to be made, "Is this the best use of my time." Let me challenge you to do the same. It also helps me to remember the words of Solomon,
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Grace & Peace,
Scott
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