Busyness

What a day yesterday was...a full day in the office, with meetings interspersed, picking up 15 children for a music program (for which I was 20 minutes late) then driving to Washington DC for Band practice before returning home at 10:45 to watch the final few minutes of the Jay Leno show and then falling asleep, forgetting to set my alarm and waking up late today...only to start all over again.

In the middle of my yesterday, I wrote a devotional that I presented to The National Capital Band. It was about prayer, and the instructions that Jesus gave in Matthews gospel prior to giving us The Lords Prayer.

Matt 6:5-8 (NIV)
5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

How ironic. Here I was reminding the National Capital Band that we must find a quiet place to pray, and that we must offer honest, direct and truthful prayers on a day where I had not slowed down and had only offered a few spur of the moment prayers. The realization I have, however, is that coping with the busyness involves withdrawing from it in order to gain strength and direction. After all, how can I lead a flock if I don't know where I'm going. Thank God for His patience with me.