I glanced at the clock, rubbing my eyes in disbelief as it was fast approaching
6:00 pm and the stack of red folders were still piled miles high in my inbox.
The red folders indicated urgency, a priority, and a must-do-before-you-go-home
task. My head was pounding from the day's events and I was real tired. The kind
of tired you feel when your body aches all over and your thoughts are blurred
beyond any hint of being coherent. I pushed the folders to the furthest corner
of my desk, grabbed my coat and headed for home. I would tackle the red folders
in the morning.
Returning to work in the morning never came - my brain aneurysm happened in the
meantime of life. I ended up in the ICU ward of Westchester Medical Center in
New York and didn't return to work until 8 long months and a lifetime of events
later. Perched in my inbox and covered by a thin film of dusk, on the corner of
my desk where I left them, were the red folders. Some things aren't really
urgent after all. I would never again allow myself to be a slave to the red
folders and their unnecessary priorities. "It is for freedom that Christ has set
us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke
of slavery." (Galatians 5:1)
Sometimes life has a way of piling up on us, one red folder at a time. If we
trust that Christ has set us free and we cast our burdens on Him, we do not have
to be hurried or worried by the day's events. "There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Enjoy the seasons and take time for all the activities. That includes a time to
rest and relax. Even God didn't rush to create the world and He through in a day
of rest, too. Perhaps He was showing us the true priorities in life: Create,
observe, enjoy and then, relax. It should be this way with our families, our
children, our work and our spare time. We should always remember to set our
priorities in the correct order and enjoy every activity under heaven.
Michele Starkey Thankful4life@aol.com
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