The Antidote to AnxietySample

What Are Your Priorities?

Imagine a bucket surrounded by a pile of rocks and a pile of sand. It's your job to fit both piles into the bucket. So you start with the sand, then stack the rocks on top. However, it doesn't take long to realize there's no way to fit it all in. The bucket simply lacks the capacity. Then you take a different approach. This time you place the rocks in the bucket, then pour in the sand. To your amazement, they both fit! The sand perfectly fills the space around the rocks. It seemed impossible until you approached the task in the correct order.

This familiar analogy is the perfect representation of our time and priorities. In life, the bucket represents our time: the rocks, our most important priorities, and the sand, our least important tasks. When we start with the important stuff, the rest can fill in the cracks. But we can't do it the other way around. If we fill the bucket with sand first, there's no room for the rocks. It's important to have our priorities in the right order.

So let me ask you, do you make time for your priorities? If you've ever looked at the most important aspects of life and said, “I just don't have the time,” may I suggest you might not have a time problem, but a priority problem?

Do you want:

• a thriving relationship with Jesus?
• physical, mental, and emotional health?
• sufficient finances to meet your needs and give generously to others?

Your answer is probably like mine: I want all of the above! The problem is not our desire, but our lack of preparing and planning.

In today's verse, the Apostle Paul models a life of intentionality. He presses toward the goal of God's call on his life, which we could also call his highest priority. Paul lived rock-first, sand-second. Do you have your priorities in the right order?

As you engage with God’s word:

● Do I make room for my top priorities?

● What is God saying to me?

● What do I need to do about it?

After you reflect on these questions, bring everything to God in prayer.