It’s okay to be in a season of busy. Some of the best times in our life will be seasons of busy. Do you remember getting married season? Just started a new job season? Newborn season? Okay bad example. Busy for a season is okay, but it’s not okay to be in a lifestyle of busy. When you are in a lifestyle of busy the things that really matter lose priority. We get burned out. The people who count the most lose priority. God falls off our matters list.

I have a challenge for you. It’s found in a familiar passage in Ecclesiastes 3. The first verse turns on one letter. Put this letter in and you have perspective . Take it out and your life is crazy busy and you’re in trouble. See if you can pick it out.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens

Did you see the letter I’m talking about? It’s the letter A. It’s only one letter but it can determine an entire lifestyle. Too often we live our life like this.

There is time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens

If you live your life like there is time for everything, you are in trouble. You will say yes to everything. You’ll volunteer for everything. You’ll say yes to volunteering at school, and extra work projects and softball leagues and book clubs and charity fund raisers and home repair projects and feeding the homeless. Listen to me. There is a time for everything. But there isn’t time for everything. You can’t do it all. You have to stick with the season that God has called you to in this time. If you try to do everything you’ll expect way too much out of yourself and you’ll burn out.

If you’ve ever talked to any member of the Hawkins family you will realize Haiti is a huge part of our lives. My wife has been on close to 40 trips to Haiti and has brought 15-45 people with her every trip. We’ve got pictures of Haitians all over our house. We even brought one home to live with us. I know that sounds all noble, and I’m sure some of you are getting sick of us talking about it, but I want you to understand something. We haven’t always been like this. It’s just been a season in our life. It wasn’t always missions season.

My wife Jilane is the one leading this whole deal and it’s amazing to watch, but she hasn’t always been on fire for missions. Just the opposite. These trips to Haiti are not our first missions experience. When we were first married we took kids on week long trips to Mexico. This woman who is so on fire and loves missions had the worst attitude. She hated going. “It’s so dusty and dirty and hot and I don’t like the food. Do you have anything besides Mexican food?” (She didn’t actually say that. That’s Chevy Chase from Three Amigo’s, but you get the picture) Listen, Haiti makes Mexico look like the Riviera. What’s the change? Early in our marriage it wasn’t the season for missions. The timing wasn’t right. Now it is. God made it beautiful in it’s time. Timing is just as important as doing.

Listen folks, you don’t have to do everything. You don’t have to go on every missions trip or every outreach to the homeless or volunteer for every project at your kids school. Here’s my challenge. Only the things that God does will endure forever. So here’s our job. Join him in what he’s doing.

Find out what God is doing and join him and don’t be afraid to enter into a busy season to do it.

I know that sounds like I just totally contradicted what I just said but hear me out. I’m not saying say yes to everything, but when you feel God calling you to make a difference, don’t be afraid to be busy to do it. Not busy forever. Not busy as a habit or a lifestyle. Busy for a season.

Too often we have an opportunity to do something for God and we get calendar bound.

When God calls too often we sound like this. “I can’t. My calendar is already full. I’m already in a book club and a soccer team and volunteering at school.” Look people, busy isn’t always bad. Some of the greatest moments in our lives have been a busy season.

Quit the busywork. Embrace the busy. See what God does.