Pursuing Peace Week 2: Submitting Our To-Do Lists to the Lord

To-do lists spill off my nightstand and on to the floor.
Anxious thoughts overwhelm me: "How will I ever get it all done today?"
Fear sets in as I make yet another to-do list.
Peace seems nowhere in sight.

The truth is that even though crossing items off my to-do list feels rewarding, it does not give peace. Instead, with each new day comes a brand new to-do list, and the roller coaster ride commences again. 

I am lurched to and fro by unforeseen events--a sick child, no clean underwear {how did that happen?}, a myriad of holiday-related projects, a stopped up toilet, deadlines looming. 

And at the end of the day, my to-do list hasn't changed. 

Nothing is crossed off. 

Translation: Even more work tomorrow.

It's frustrating to feel like you haven't accomplished anything you set out to do in a day until you consider what you have done:

• Comforted a sad child
• Fixed three meals plus snacks for your kids
• Sat on the floor and colored with them
• Read Bible stories at the breakfast table
• Searched high and low for a much loved toy and found it!
• Hugged and loved on your children

And still, peace will never come to us unless we submit everything --including our rabid to-do lists-- to our Heavenly Father and allow Him to guide our days.

"Yet I am always with You;
You hold me by my right hand. 

You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will take me into glory." 

Psalm 73:23-24

Spiritual Application: Sit down today and turn over everything-- your to-do list, all the daily chores and activities, your heart and attitude-- to the Lord. Ask Him to lead you by His perfect counsel. Keep your focus on Him, not that to-do list, throughout the day. Look only at what lies immediately before you. He will be with you and lead you where you need to go.

Practical Application: At the end of the day today, sit down and reflect on all you have accomplished with the Lord's help. Jot it down in a notebook so you can look back later and see how the Lord blesses us when we submit our to-do lists to Him.

"Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future for the man of peace." 

Psalm 37:37

Praying God's blessings of peace on you,

Other posts in our series on Pursuing peace:
Pursuing Peace: A Series to Help Us Enjoy the Holiday Season
Pursuing Peace Week 1: What is Peace?

Linking up with: The Better Mom, Monday Mom Musings, Raising Arrows, Time-Warp Wife, Teach Me Tuesdays, Leaving a Legacy, Women Living Well Wednesdays, Raising Homemakers, Raising Mighty Arrows