God wants us to submit every moment to Him and to use our time as He directs.
How you spend your time changes with the different seasons of your life, but one principle applies to every moment of time: Don’t waste it. Every season has various tasks that God has appointed for you to do, and you will give an account to Him of how you have spent your time. God never wants you to look at any time in your life as purposeless. He doesn’t want you to spend your time apart from Him.
The important thing to know is how God wants you to use your time. You will not learn this through hard work or schooling or a keen intellect but by seeking God with a pure and upright heart. You also must put aside the schemes of your self-love just as soon as you notice them. For you do not waste time only by doing nothing or even by doing something you know is wrong; you also waste time when you do a seemingly “good” thing that God has not asked you to do.
You must continually depend on God’s Spirit for His direction. If you have a doubt about what He wants, ask Him again. When the course becomes clear, move forward with His strength. Bring your heart back to Him whenever you feel yourself drifting away from God.
You are truly blessed if you leave yourself in your Savior’s hands, willing to do whatever He wants. Never tire of asking God what He wants from you.
Meet each responsibility as it comes. God prepares you for them. The only thing you need to do is submit your temper, your opinions, your worries—your natural way of responding to things—completely to Him. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by external business.
Seek, in everything you do, to glorify God. Do not get so personally involved with your duties that your whole thought-life revolves around them. Don’t let your work either excite you or depress you too much.
Time spent socially with others can be dangerous. You must learn to stay in the presence of God while you are with other people. There is a subtle poison often hidden in conversation. Use your time with others to influence them toward God. Remember: Your words can do great good or great harm.
Spare time is pleasant. You can hardly find a better use for it than by renewing your strength through inward fellowship with God. You will learn the secret of spending intimate time with your Lord. Those who know the Lord well cannot resist turning to Him in every available moment.
François de Fenelon, better known simply as “Fenelon,” became the archbishop of Cambrai, France, in the late 1600s. His correspondence on the subject of a deeper walk with Christ still influences us today.
Adapted from The Seeking Heart by François de Fenelon, copyright 1992. Published by The SeedSowers. Used by permission.
