Sequestration of the Day Planner

I know that I am a little late getting this topic discussed, but here it goes any way.  Please know that this discussion is more for me, but if the Day Planner fits!

Sequestration has gotten much press over the past month and I am honestly surprised that there is still an internet to view this on since the sequester kicked in.  The definition of sequester is “to isolate or hide away”.  We have heard of gloom and doom and all of the bad things that could or would happen if congress allowed this 2% budget cut to take place.  That’s right, it was almost a full 2%.  It is almost laughable when you look at the percentage rather than the dollar amount. 

 

As I was mocking this 2%, God grabbed my attention.

I often find myself feeling too busy and unable to get everything done that I have planned in a day.  My day planner gets more cluttered and my time debt continues to mount!  Most days, it seems like I can’t possibly add anything else to the schedule.  When I get that busy, things like my quiet time and study can suffer.  I just can’t seem to make 30 minutes available for one of the most important activities of the day.  30 minutes is just too much time to part with.  It is unreasonable to think that I can find that much time in my schedule without something falling apart or getting neglected.  Let me break down a little math for you.  There are 1,440 minutes in a day.  2% of this is 29 minutes……ouch!  2% of a year, is almost exactly one week.  I don’t know about you, but I often need to trim back my time commitments so that I don’t bankrupt the obligation account!  I have to make cuts NOW, or they will definitely be more painful later!

 

You have heard me say it before, but reading the book, “Radical”, by David Platt, really challenged me in my walk and actually prompted me to GO on a foreign mission trip.  One of the challenges that David Platt gives in his book is for the reader to spend 1 week, per year, in a different context.  Remember that one week is 2% of a year.  Before reading this book, I often thought that my one week would be better spent working and then donating the proceeds so that someone else could GO.  I’d like to quote you a small part of Radical and see if it doesn’t challenge you to GO with 2% of your time.

 

The author states that he was planning a mission trip to Sudan, and it was going to cost him about $3,000.  As he started to think about going on this trip, a woman in his church asked why he did not just send the money.  Wouldn’t that do more good than spending 10 days with them?  He went ahead and went on the trip and a local man told him that many people had been generous, sending supplies and needed materials to the community.  But then the local man asked, “Even in the light of all these things that people have given us, do you want to know how you can tell who a true brother is?”  Then he continued, “A true brother comes to be with you in your time of need.”  He then looked David Platt in the eye and said, “David, you are a true brother.  Thank you for coming to be with us.”  Platt then writes the following:
Tears welled up in my eyes as the reality of the gospel hit home with me in an entirely new way.  I was immediately reminded that when God chose to bring salvation to you and me, he did not send gold or silver, cash or check.  He sent himself – the Son.  I was convicted for even considering that I should give money instead of actually coming to Sudan.  How will I ever show the gospel to the world if all I send is my money?  Was I really so shallow as to think that my money is the answer to the needs in the world?  If we are going to accomplish the global purpose of God, it will not be primarily through giving our money, as important as that is.  It will happen primarily through giving ourselves.  This is what the gospel represents, and it’s what the gospel requires.

 

That little bit of the book on page 197 & 198, spoke straight into me.  Not all of us will GO into foreign missions, but we are called to GO and make disciples.  He may call you to GO next door, across town or around the world.  Sometimes I think that our time and financial obligations prohibit us from going.  We must sequester some time to spend with God daily and to GO.

 

Nobody wanted to claim the idea of the US government sequester.  Both sides blamed the other. 

 

When it comes time for a Day Planner Sequester, it does not matter whose idea it was, just that you solve it!

 

Jay

One in five children in Uganda dies before their 5th birthday.  What if we reached That One Person?