Geri, a friend of mine, asked, “Does a person have to finish every project they start? I start so many projects—redecorating a room, reorganizing a drawer in my kitchen, or purging my closet. Does my project have to be finished? What if the downside is that my husband doesn’t get any dinner, that my devotions time gets set aside, or the phone call I should return to encourage a sister gets put off?” Geri realized that she needed to evaluate the projects she tackled if doing them brought hardship to her household or to her own peace of mind.

As is true so often, the Bible gave Geri the exact answer she needed. The apostle Paul prayed that the Philippians “may be able to discern what is best…to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:10, 11 NIV).

As she asked God to guide her, Geri found that if she kept the main thing the main thing, God would provide time to do the projects she needed to complete. God would help her to discern what is best. She simply had to put first things first and make it her goal to bring glory and praise to God.

Old-time preacher Vance Havner once wrote, “So long as we are in His will, we shall have health enough, time enough, work enough, money enough to do what He wants done… When we are…in the place of God’s purpose, we are in the place of His power and provision.”[1]

When you make your To-Do list for today, ask God to help you put those items in order of God’s priorities. At the end of the day, if you are not able to cross off everything on your list, don’t worry. You will have satisfaction that you have done the most important things first.

[1] Vance Havner, The Best of Vance Havner (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1969), 56, 57.