The Best Time Management Principle I Know.

Lately, I’ve been struggling a lot with managing my time effectively.

It doesn’t come as a surprise to me because I knew it would happen sooner or later.

I’ve noticed that whenever I introduce a new activity into my daily routine, it tends to disrupt my work system or routine.

In such situations, I tend to prioritize my tasks.

I pause some less urgent ones, even though they are important, and concentrate on completing the essential ones.

It has become some sort of survival strategy—and that’s not an ideal way to live.

My approach over the past week has been to ask God for help. While asking for His help, I do as much as I can and temporarily set aside tasks that are not immediately important.

During one of my private Bible study sessions, the Holy Spirit (based on the fact that my steps are ordered by God) led me to First Kings chapter 17.

It was the story of the prophet Elijah. After he prophesied to King Ahab of Israel, foretelling a period of drought, God instructed Elijah to go to a specific brook.

There, he drank water and was fed bread and meat by ravens.

Eventually, the brook dried up, and God directed him to a widow in Zarephath, assuring him that He had commanded her to provide for him (as mentioned in verse nine).

When he got there, of course, he found the woman.

Initially, he asked her to get him a little water, and she obliged him.

Knowing there was very little water in the land due to the drought and that she was a widow without help, to me, Elijah’s request seemed like a test, lol.

As she was about to go get the water, he took it a step further by asking her to bring some bread along with the water.

It was then that the woman spoke up.

She explained to him that she had nothing except a handful of meal and a bit of oil in a cruse.

She was gathering the two sticks she held in her hands to prepare a meal for herself and her son.

They would eat what little they had, and afterwards, they would hopelessly expect death.

But then, in 1 Kings 17:13, 14:

And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

The woman chose to believe him and guess what?

She followed his instructions, and as a result, both she, Elijah, and her household enjoyed nourishment for a while.

What I found remarkable in this story was the woman’s obedience to Elijah, even though she was about to have nothing left.

In the end, the barrel of meal (previously referred to as ‘a handful of meal’) and the cruse of oil (formerly ‘little oil in a cruse’) never ran out.

This story is quite similar to the story of the Samaritan woman whom Jesus encountered by the well.

in John chapter 4 in verse 10,

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

In this life, we have a limited amount of meal (which is our time). While we might still be motivated to do non-obligatory routine tasks, other important tasks demand our time.

We need to make time for those things that we don’t have to do but need to do.

Does that make sense?

To achieve this, I’ve recognized the importance of being purposeful and meticulous in managing my time.

For my routine daily tasks (which are often the easiest to procrastinate), I will be designating specific time slots for each of these activities.

When it’s time for a particular task, the principle is to shift your focus entirely to that activity, setting aside whatever you were doing before.

This approach may require an overhauling of my existing daily schedule, which is something I am enthusiastic about.

I’m eager to embrace this change, it’s similar to giving up a small amount of oil, trusting that with God’s help, it won’t run dry, and I won’t starve.

Cue in:

Song: If He Did It Before….Same God by Tye Tribbett