Episode 31: What’s Still Yours to Do

There are certain things Christians say that are absolutely true:

“Turn it over to God.”

“God is in control.”

“Trust God.”

And sometimes those are exactly the words we need to hear.

But there’s a danger if we turn those truths into an excuse for passivity.

Trusting God doesn’t mean we stop planning. It doesn’t mean we stop making decisions. It doesn’t mean we sit around waiting for God to do things he has given us the ability—and the responsibility—to do.

There’s a verse in Proverbs that captures this tension beautifully:

“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” (Proverbs 21:31, NIV)

Notice both parts.

The horse is made ready.

That means somebody has work to do.

But victory rests with the Lord.

We prepare. We plan. We work. We make wise decisions. And then we recognize that the outcome was never completely under our control.

I think sometimes we confuse surrender with resignation.

Surrender says, “God, I’m going to faithfully do what I can, and trust you with what I can’t.”

Resignation says, “There’s nothing I can do, so I won’t do anything.”

Those are not the same thing.

Years ago, I wrote a blog about getting results in your life. I used the term “highest and best use.” In real estate, it refers to using a piece of property in the most productive or valuable way.

I suggested applying the same idea to our time.

I still think there’s value in that, although I’d say it a little differently today.

The highest and best use of every minute is not necessarily to cram another task into it. Sometimes the best use of an hour is concentrated work. Sometimes it’s solving a problem. Sometimes it’s talking with someone who needs you. Sometimes it’s prayer. And sometimes it’s taking a nap.

The point is to intentionally use the time and resources we’ve been given instead of simply reacting to whatever happens next.

That requires planning.

And planning is biblical. Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” (Proverbs 16:3, NIV)

Again, there are two pieces: we make plans, and we commit them to God.

James gives us the other side of that. In James 4, he warns people who confidently announce what they’re going to do tomorrow, where they’re going to go, and how much money they’re going to make. His point isn’t that planning is wrong. It’s that we should never confuse a plan with a guarantee.

We should plan with humility.

So what does that look like in real life?

For one thing, put your priorities where they’ll actually get your attention.

We often hear that your number-one priority should be the first thing you do every morning. Maybe. But that doesn’t work for everybody or for every responsibility.

Put important work where you have the energy, concentration, time, and resources to do it well.

If your best thinking happens at ten in the morning, protect that time for the work that requires your best thinking. Save the routine tasks—the things that don’t require as much concentration—for another part of the day.

That’s stewardship.

And part of stewarding our time well is deciding who—or what—gets access to it.

That’s why we need to protect at least some of our time.

An open door can be a wonderful gesture of accessibility. But an open door all day long can also mean you never accomplish the work you’re responsible for doing.

You can be available to people without being available every minute.

Sometimes you need to close the door. Silence the phone. Turn off notifications. Stay off social media for an hour and finish something.

That isn’t selfish. It’s recognizing that interruptions have a cost.

The other side of that is that we should respect other people’s time, too.

If we believe our time has value, we should treat other people’s time as though it has value.

Show up when you said you would. Be prepared. Don’t turn a twenty-minute meeting into an hour because you didn’t organize your thoughts beforehand.

And when you need information, ask clear questions so you aren’t making someone else spend half a day figuring out what you actually wanted.

Managing time well also means being realistic about how much we can actually do.

So know your limitations.

This is a big one.

Being responsible doesn’t mean doing everything yourself.

You have a limited amount of time. You have limited energy. You have certain abilities and not others.

Sometimes the wisest thing you can do is delegate something to somebody who can do it faster or better.

Sometimes the wisest thing you can do is say no.

And sometimes the most faithful response to an opportunity is, “I don’t have the capacity for that right now.”

Overcommitting yourself doesn’t make you more productive. Eventually, it usually makes you less effective at everything.

And recognizing our limitations also means recognizing that we need rest.

Build rest into your plan.

Rest is not what happens if you somehow finish everything else.

Because you’re probably never going to finish everything else.

There will always be another email, another project, another chore, another problem that could use your attention.

We were not designed to operate continuously.

So sleep. Take breaks. Take a walk. Sit quietly for a few minutes. Take the nap if you need it.

Rest isn’t wasted time if it allows you to return to your responsibilities with the energy and clarity to do them well.

And finally, let go of perfection when perfection isn’t required.

Some things need to be exactly right.

A lot of things don’t.

There comes a point when another fifteen minutes of tweaking isn’t making something meaningfully better. It’s just keeping you from moving on to the next thing.

Do good work. Be conscientious. Correct mistakes when you find them.

But don’t let perfectionism masquerade as excellence.

And through all of this, remember that productivity isn’t the ultimate goal.

Faithfulness is.

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We can’t control what other people do. We can’t guarantee that our plans will succeed. We can’t prevent every interruption, setback, disappointment, or unexpected change.

Those things belong outside our control.

But there’s still plenty that belongs inside our responsibility.

We can prepare the horse.

We can organize our time.

We can make the phone call.

We can do the research.

We can show up prepared.

We can make the decision we’ve been avoiding.

We can rest when we need rest.

We can take the next step.

And then we can trust God with what happens after that.

So yes, turn it over to God.

Yes, remember that God is in control.

Yes, trust him.

But trusting God doesn’t mean doing nothing.

Sometimes one of the clearest expressions of trust is to faithfully do everything that is ours to do—and leave everything that isn’t with God.

When we come back, we’ll talk about another part of life we need to handle wisely—what to do when our feelings are real, powerful, and not necessarily telling us the whole truth.