The holidays are upon us again. For some, this is the most wonderful time of year. For others. it is the most stressful time of the year. For many, it is both the most wonderful and the most stressful time of year. Every year it seems we end the season by saying that next year will be different. Then next year comes, and nothing changes. We want to handle the season in a different way because the holiday season should feel different than it does for most of us. What if there was as way to make not only this holiday season but EVERY season different?
1. When you think of the holidays, what comes to mind? Is it wonderful, stressful, or a bit of both?
2. Moses made the point that a thousand years from God's perspective was like a three hour period of time for us. If that's the case, then that makes our lifetime like a flash from God’s perspective. The point is that we are not the point of our lives. Why is this healthy to know?
3. How we spend our time reflects how we spend our life. Time = life. How do you want to spend your life? With that in mind, would you change anything about how you spend your time?
4. How does understanding that we have limited time affect how we spend our time? How did it make you feel to see how many days the different ages have remaining?
5. How would you describe the current amount of or lack of margin in your life in general? How much margin do you have as it relates to the holidays?
6. If you could do anything to make the holidays more peaceful and joyful, what would you do? How can you take steps to move in that direction?
7. How much of the decision to spend your time a certain way is motivated by fear and guilt rather than faith and gratitude? Explain and discuss.
Prioritize: When you prioritize the right things today, you won’t regret the wrong things tomorrow. Ask yourself: “What are the most important things in my life, really?”
Analyze: Since our time is limited, we should limit what we do with our time. How we spend our time will one day be how we lived our lives. Ask yourself the following: “What do I need to start doing? What do I need to stop doing? What do I need to do more of? What do I need to do less of?”
Organize: Having margin will cost me something and having no margin will cost me something. One is worth it. The other isn’t. Ask yourself: “Do I want my time decisions made by fear and guilt, or by faith and gratitude?”
Psalm 90:12 NIV “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
