“If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.”

Attributed to several sources over the years, we’ve all heard the quote, “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” I most recently read it in one of Charles Stanley’s devotionals, and it stuck with me. There are several posts I’ve written about learning to live slowly,  learning moderation, and the culture of slowness. Slowing down has to be one of the hardest challenges of our lives here on earth!

Between our professional and personal lives, many of us struggle with being “busy”. The danger that lies therein is not having time for the most important things in life. When was the last time that you skipped your devotions because you were too rushed in the morning? What about not being able to properly serve at church because of “other” commitments? What about not praying because you don’t have time?

We don’t just have too much on the go; no, most of the time we just don’t have our priorities in the correct order. Tozer once said that “Anything that keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to be.” How do we battle “busy” and get our priorities straight? Maybe it means waking up earlier in the morning, or perhaps learning the art of saying, “No”. Both apply in my life!

We’re told in Proverbs 21:5 that “the plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.” To be hasty means that you’re hurried, you’re in a rush. When we’re busy, we each need to learn how to apply Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.” We can’t be still if we’re rushing around being “busy”!

“If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.”