My discipline has been off lately and I think I might have figured out why.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just have a hard time disciplining myself to do things – things that I don’t usually have trouble getting down to.

I am a routine kind-of-guy. I work best when I have a routine. I usually structure my day to a routine that keeps me on track, especially in the mornings. I relax that schedule in the afternoons.

In the morning, I basically do the same things every day. I get up at the same time, have my devotions at the same time, and get into the office and start to work on my sermon first thing every day.

Well, that’s what I normally do; but I’ve been off-track lately and I didn’t know why.

I would come into the office knowing full well that I needed to get a good start on my sermon, but for some reason I would click on my email and check it first.

Or, I would look at some mail on my desk, or check out something that’s been on my mind or that caught my eye in an email.

What I’ve been finding is a half hour or more would go by before I really got settled down to study.

Today I think I know why I’ve been like that. In my devotions this morning, I was complaining to God about it and a thought came to mind.

I think God put that thought there. This is what it was: “I’m having a hard time disciplining myself because I feel I need to be doing more than one thing at the same time.”

I know what I need to do each day at 8:30 (get to my sermon), but I also have a couple of projects I need to be doing.

My disciplined nature can make me feel hurried to get to both things, to feel pressured to get to all my tasks.

My mind is torn and so I try to escape the dilemma or the pressure to do two things at once (which can’t be done anyway) by doing neither. Instead, I check email, or diddle around on something that is not important. My escape provides immediate, temporary relief, but ultimately puts more pressure on me down the road.

I can be very disciplined but I need a way out of my dilemma right now. I am going to try to clearly schedule time to do both projects so my mind can focus on one thing at a time, and not try to escape both tasks.

If I can see in my calendar when I will work on each item, I’m hoping tomorrow my mind can stay focussed on one task at a time.

Here’s the thing: In finding time to spend with God, it may be that you have more than one thing you feel you need to get at. In most cases, the other thing screams louder in your head than spending time with God does. The best thing is to schedule time for both things, and be single-minded when you approach your time with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you handle the pressure to do more than one thing at a time? Leave your comments below.