Let’s never go back to “normal.” The schedule-packed, information overloaded normal we knew before the pandemic was not a good normal. The enemy has long been using our busy schedules as a means to distract us and keep us from the real priorities in our life. The enemy has been using confusion via information overload to cause us to doubt and question what we know is true. It’s time to find a new normal.

In our culture, “busy” has become a source of pride. The response, “I’ve been really busy” has somehow become highly respected and equated with “productive.” Before the pandemic, we glorified “busy.” But does “busy” mean productive and fruitful for the Kingdom? Is “busy” what God has commanded? Is “busy” our ultimate goal? No. We must seek Him to know what he desires. Countless people over the past weeks have told me that they are evaluating the things in their life that they need to let go of. Praise the Lord. The things of this world can never satisfy. Only Jesus can.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

As children of God, we do not live for the things of the world. We do not live for our own glory. Our ultimate desire is not to be the biggest, best, or richest. We live only for the glory of God. What does that look like? We must seek Him to know.

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord” Ephesians 5:8-10 (emphasis added).

Find out what pleases the Lord. Test and approve what God’s will is. We find out what pleases Him by seeking Him – in prayer, in His Word, and in worship. This means seeking Him much more than just one hour of church per week. Being a follower of Jesus means far more than going to church (or streaming church) on Sunday. It means seeking Him every day in everything. Without constant and direct communication with our Lord and Savior, we are vulnerable to being led astray by what the world says and what the world values. But we are not to value what the world values. We are to value the things of the Kingdom of God.

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5: 15-16

As followers of Jesus, we are to use every opportunity to redeem in a broken world – to share of the Kingdom of God. Our days on earth are numbered and our time is precious. The direction for how to do this comes only through the Lord; and unless we spend adequate time with Him, we open ourselves to worldly voices that will lie to us and deceive us. The more the enemy can distract us from spending time with the Lord and walking in obedience to His commands, the more enslaved we become. Slaves to schedules. Slaves to popular opinion. Slaves to fear. Slaves to sin.

So, friends, let’s slow down. Let’s re-think how we spend our time. Let’s make these three things our priorities each and every day: 

• Pray. I’m not talking a quick dinner prayer or a half prayer before bedtime. PRAY. Spend an hour today with the Lord. Spend an hour tomorrow. Spend two hours, three. We have a God in which we can be in relationship with – we can praise and communicate with. We can spend time talking with the Creator of the entire UNIVERSE and we choose to…. do what else? How much time do we spend talking to our friends? On social media? Listening to worldly voices? How much more time, then, should we be spending in prayer, talking to God? Spend time alone with Him. Read the Psalms. Pray the Psalms. Put on praise music and just worship – tell Him how awesome He is. Confess your sins to him intentionally. Tell him you are sorry. Intercede for your friends and family, and for those around the world who are suffering. Really pray for them. Ask God that His name would be known through suffering and trial. And don’t forget to just sit in silence and just listen; just be.
  
  
• Read God’s Word. You have time. Any excuse to not be in God’s Word right now ultimately boils down to just not wanting to. And that’s a heart problem, so pray over that. Ask God to help you desire to be in His Word. Rebuke anything that is holding you back. God’s Word is how we know how to discern everything we see, hear, and do in this world. We must know it in order to obey it. You cannot truly follow Jesus without knowing what the Bible says.
  
  
• Worship. You don’t have to be in a sanctuary to worship. Put on praise music and just worship His name. Biblically, music is powerful and an important way of praising God. Nobody cares if you can or cannot sing. Sing off key. Just listen in agreeance with worship music. Any way you do it, just worship. You can worship in other ways, too. Prayer can be worship. Reading God’s Word can be worship. Obeying his commands can be worship. Just stand in awe of who God is and realize his power. Any expression of that power (painting, writing, etc.) can be worship. Make a list of all of the things you are thankful for and present them as praise one by one. Write the Scriptures. Write a song about His goodness. Just worship. There is absolutely no circumstance in which we cannot fall on our knees and worship. God does not change, even when we face trials.

My prayer is that you understand the urgency in each of these things. I assure you they are far more urgent and impactful that anything else you have on your schedule. Even work for the Lord should not be done without first spending adequate time in prayer, worship, and God’s Word. Work for the Lord is an outflow of these things.

During this crisis there is no doubt much suffering. We pray for the sick and hurting. We help any way we can. But we also realize the gift that God has given each of us in reminding us where our hope lies. He is reminding us who is in control. And He is teaching us in our trials.

The way we spend our time tells where our priorities are. Make the choice to prioritize time with the Lord. Regardless of what our words say, our actions say where our priorities truly lie. Now is a time to re-set. Now. Before schedules start filling in again. Before the world attempts to get back to “normal.”

If you’re reading this and saying, “Great idea. I’ll do that later, eventually, tomorrow, next week…,” realize this: there will not always be a “later.” This is a lie that the enemy tells you. Our days are numbered and we don’t know that number. Always committing to “next time” or “later” is simply saying, “no” or “I don’t want to.” You have that choice. Just realize the choice you are making.

In spending time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer, you can speak truth into the lies you are told every day. You can discern the voices of truth over the voices that speak the loudest. You can know right from wrong and good from evil. There are so many voices talking to you all day every day (friends, social media, news…). Fill your mind with God’s Word so you can listen to His voice above all the others. Pray. Read God’s Word. Worship.

Friends, what are your priorities? Make your schedule around your priorities. Don’t let your schedule determine your priorities.

Slow down. Find a new normal. Find a normal that puts God first in your life. Find a normal that seeks God’s will first and foremost. Find a normal in which you can faithfully walk in obedience to the Lord.