Would you like to make this year the best year
of your life, no matter what happens over the
next 12 months, to be able to look back and see
real positive change? Well, we're going to look
at how to get a grip on all those demands in
your life and make this year one you'll look
back on and say, thank you, Lord. Welcome to
this weekend edition of Living on the Edge with
Chip and Greg. The mission of this daily program
is to intentionally disciple Christians through
the insightful Bible teaching of Chip Ingram.
A few days ago, we kicked off our popular series,
Balancing Life's Demands. Over the next handful
of days, Chip will continue speaking to the overwhelmed,
over -scheduled, and stressed out, providing
some biblical remedies to live a joyful and peace
-filled life. Today, we're revisiting the first
program in this series titled, The Peace and
Power of a Prioritized Life. So if you're ready,
grab your Bible and notes as we settle in for
Chip's talk. Well, as we get started, we're going
to talk about balancing life's demands and we're
going to talk about biblical priorities. We're
going to talk about aligning your life and your
priorities, doing what's important in a way that
God says for two purposes. One, so that you fulfill
his purposes and bring glory to him. And second,
because when you do that, it is good for you.
His highest and best is achieved and accomplished
when there is an alignment of your priorities
with the way He has designed you and designed
life to work. And when your priorities get out
of whack, when the balance gets out of whack,
it produces some painful things in you, in relationships,
and often significant damage. Everyone needs
to stop and look and evaluate at your priorities.
Is your life in balance? Is it being lived the
way God wants it to, for His glory and your good?
And so to do that, here's the format that we're
gonna use. I'm gonna give a little diagnosis.
I'm gonna give you six warning signs, just see
those, of misplaced priorities. So I'm just gonna
go through, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and
you're gonna say, hey, you know, I think my priorities
are here, good, good, good, mm, better check
that one. So let's jump in together, and let
me give you the six. symptoms of misplaced priorities.
The first symptom is busyness. You can write
that word in. Busyness, but barren of fruit.
If your life is characterized where you're hurrying
all the time, you're rushing. Busyness. I call
it the activity trap. Dawson Trotman, the founder
of The Navigator said, emotion is no substitute
for action and action is no substitute for productivity.
Sometimes we get very, very active, very, very
busy. I believe it's the new worldliness. We
are important because we're busy, we're on the
move. I gotta do this, I gotta do that, I'm involved
in this. Second is emotional stress and pressure.
anxiety. People whose priorities are out of whack
have symptoms like a uptightness. They sometimes
have chest pains, migraine headaches, trouble
sleeping. You have this uneasy feeling. You feel
restless a lot. It's hard to sit still. You wish
you could get your mind to slow down. Sometimes
you find yourself going, I just need to take
a deep breath. because the RPMs inside your head,
you're multitasking about everything all the
time. There's no windows of real rest. The third
is what I call low -grade nagging guilt. You
feel bad about yourself. Again, it's not just
the restless feeling, but it's not fulfilled.
There's a lot of things that you know you're
supposed to do. In fact, you did them in the
past. You actually tell other people they should
do them, but you don't do them anymore. The fourth
is financial debt, financial problems. God speaks
through your money. Jot down just in your notes,
Habakkuk 1, verses 1 to 10. God speaks to the
prophet, and here's a paraphrase of those 10
verses. Because they were building their own
homes and their paneled houses and neglected
the house of the Lord, God put holes in their
purses. They made money, but it seemed to evaporate.
God was lovingly trying to get their attention.
You can't figure it out. You know, we're making
this much money. We're making more money than
we ever have, but it just seems like, oh, it
seems like God puts holes. in our finances. That's
because he loves you. He's trying to get your
attention. The fifth symptom of misplaced priorities
is prayerlessness or leakage in the devotional
life. If the truth is known and you hope the
truth doesn't get known. but your deepest times
in prayer are in the car by yourself. Most of
your prayers are very quick. Mostly the best
times are with other people. You have a hard
time concentrating by yourself because it's been
a very long time since you had an extended, honest,
repentant, tearful cleaning of the slate with
you and God. The final was escapism behavior.
For us good Christians, it's just a lot of excessive
TV and a lot of time on email. And a lot of time
doing things that make us feel like we're accomplishing
something because down deep we don't know where
we're going and Our North Star feels like it's
moved and you don't know is there any way out?
And I wish that did not describe an awful lot
of believers lives But I will tell you as we
get thousands upon thousands of emails. I hear
it over and over and over and over In conclusion,
these symptoms are always in our minds. They're
temporary, they're just small concessions. I
mean like one or two of those sayings, it doesn't
mean you're like out to lunch and you don't love
God anymore, you're ready for a divorce next
week. They all start as just a little thing and
you're gonna fix them next week and as soon as
this season's over, when this, you know, but
here's what I want you to hear. They all begin
a process. The big falls always start with little
things like this. and one or two that you juggle,
and then pretty soon there's three or four. He
who is faithful in a very little thing will be
faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous
in a very little thing, Luke 16, 10, will be
unrighteous also in much. And we're gonna get
reconnected as a couple when, and the family
will start some of that devotional stuff again,
and we'll get our finances in order, and I'll
be able to give like I used to, and I know we
need to have a budget, but I mean, those credit
cards, hey, you know what, everyone has a window
like this, but it's real temporary because, and
yeah, it's not a life or death deal. But 2 Samuel
11, verses one and two says, at the time when
kings went out to battle. Priority issue. After
great success, at the time when kings went out
to battle, when a king did what a good king's
supposed to do, David decided he'd stay home.
And then Bathsheba and Uriah get pinned in his
autobiography. These symptoms start to weave
into your life and you get vulnerable and you
get hurt and you just want some relief and you
never think it's possible for someone who loves
God the way you love God for any of that to ever
happen, but the right place at the right time
in a weak moment with these things happening,
bang. And all of a sudden, you're the feature
film in your own nightmare. Those... are the
symptoms? And it raises a very important question
then. If those are the symptoms, then what are
the right priorities? I mean, God, help! What
are the right priorities? And I like to say that
I would like you to turn in your Bibles to First
Priorities 1 -9. But I don't have that, you know.
But there's two books that were written about
the same time. They're called The Twin Epistles,
and I put a chart in your notes. In the Twin
Epistles, one is written to say, church, first
three chapters, this is what Christ has done
for you. Last three chapters of Ephesians, this
is how to live it out. Colossians, church, this
is the preeminence of who Jesus is, and this
is how he wants you to live. Last two chapters,
and this is how you live it out. Written about
the same time. Now what I want you to see is
sometimes the structure of a book. can tell you
as much as the content. And so the first half
of both those books are all doctrine. This is
who Jesus is. This is your relationship with
Him. This is who you are in Christ. This is your
adoptance. This is your inheritance. This is
what you actually possess. And then if you look
at those charts, when they start talking about
how to live it out, chapter four opens. I love
chapter four, verse one. I, Paul, a prisoner
of the Lord, what's he say? Urge you command
you to walk in a manner worthy of your calling
and that word for worthy is it's a if we get
our English word access and It's this idea of
for three chapters. I've told you all that you
possess beliefs now let your behavior bring it
into balance so that your beliefs and your behavior
tell the same story and The whole rest of the
book is how you do that and it's really interesting
And this is why small groups are so important.
He doesn't tell you right after that to go to
church, read your Bible, or he starts with relational
issues. Then he says, with all gentleness and
humility, bearing with one another, with patience,
making every effort to maintain the bond that
you already have of peace. You're listening to
Living on the Edge. Before we hear the rest of
Chip's message, let me remind you that we are
a listener -supported ministry. Your regular
gifts help us create programs like this one,
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Well, here again is Chip. And so what I want
you to see is When he opens up each of those
chapters, notice the topic, Colossians 3, how
it starts. How it starts, you have God, mate,
family, work, ministry, and it's not in here,
but implied elsewhere, is you have kind of recreation.
You know, there's a need to get recharged. And
so I think it's just interesting as you go through
those passages, it's okay. In Ephesians 5, we're
gonna learn that, hey, I need to be filled with
the Spirit, my relationship with God. It goes
from right there to my marriage, to my children,
to my work, and then to my ministry. Now, the
problem, I think, when we look at priorities,
however, is we tend to view them linearly. You
know what I mean? Like in a straight line. And
so here's how I used to think about priorities.
Problem is it didn't work. God is first in my
life. Good. I love you, God. Okay, my wife is
second. Teresa, okay, I love you. God, Teresa,
God, Teresa, I got that one down. Okay, hold
on, what's it gonna say? Family, family, kids,
kids, okay. God, Teresa, kids, that's good. Okay,
now what comes after that? Ministry? No, no,
no, it doesn't say it. What's it say? Work. Work?
Yeah, because that's your first ministry. That's
where you spend 60, 70 % of your time. Okay.
And then it would be like, well, wait a second,
Teresa's sick, but Teresa, I would love to help
you. I know you're vomiting on the couch, but
God's more important. So I'm going to have my
quiet time. See you later, honey. See, they don't
work that way. Life's very confusing. It's very
demanding. You're pulled in different ways. And
so I put a picture. This is kind of a picture
that's really, really helped me with priorities.
It's a fountain. Okay, it's a multi -tiered fountain.
And here's what I want you to, let me read one
verse and jot this passage because it's really
powerful. Jesus is speaking to the woman at the
well. And I'm in John four, I'll read both 13
for context and 14. And he says to the woman
at the well, everyone who drinks the water. This
water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks
the water I give him will never thirst again.
Indeed, the water that I give him will become
in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal
life. Welling up to eternal life. You might jot
down Proverbs 423. Solomon would say the same
thing. Watch over your heart with all diligence
for from it flow the issues of life. And so what
I want you to see is I want you to imagine, you
know, that top rung where it has God. I would
like you to imagine there's little slits in it,
little V's. And each one of these, God, your
mate, your family, your work, your ministry,
is I want you to imagine they have those little
slits. And here's how priorities actually work.
Living in you is the Spirit of God. In John 6,
he would say, the word that I speak to you is
spirit and it is truth. And dwelling in you is
the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
And what our priorities are really all about
is what do you need in your relationship with
Jesus and the Father and the Spirit so that you're
full of Him, so that there is connection and
abiding, so it can overflow into your relationship
with your mate. And he'll show you what's it
look like, how much time. I don't know what you
need, but I know it's the word, it's prayer,
it's the community of believers and its application.
And you walk and abide with Christ. And then
the overflow of that is you treat your mate empowered
by the Holy Spirit. And then that overflows to
your kids. And that overflows to a high capacity,
nurtured, loved husband or wife who walks through
the door and goes to work. And then your work
is done in the power of the Spirit with the support
of those relationships. And people wish they
had a boss like you or an employee like you because
of who shows up. And then your work is a testimony
and then your ministry in local church or kingdom
expansion. Do you see the difference? And so
it's a fluid thing. And it's the Spirit of God
leading and showing you in this situation on
this day. Now, you develop certain structures
we're gonna talk about. I mean, there's certain
things I need to do with my time on a regular
basis. Certain things I need to do, develop that
with my wife, with my God, with my kids, in my
work, and we'll talk about those. But don't think
of them as just linear. It never works that way.
Just a linear one, two, three, four. Think about
it as what do you need in every relationship
so that the Spirit of God can allow love that
you possess in your relationship with Jesus to
come out of you into that relationship. And so
you, especially if you're married with your wife
or husband, love in such a way that that flows
into the life of your kids. And you know what?
If it's not happening here, don't export it.
See, what people do is they get the flow in their
relationship with God, and maybe, but often not
with their mate. And then, you know, since you
get a lot more strokes at work, then they take
all that energy and take it to work. Or what
a lot of women tend to do is they may have it
with God, and pretty soon, there's all these
needs, and there's such fulfillment, and mommy,
I love you, and I need you, and you helped my
need, and you did this, and you helped me with
my homework, you're the most wonderful person,
and that nurturing, and pretty soon. Her second
priority becomes the kids. So he goes to work,
she loves the kids, and they reconnect after
25 years of marriage. And that's why, other than
the first five years of marriage, the most dangerous
zone of divorce is about 20 to 25, or 25 to 27
years, depending on when your kids leave the
nest. Priorities are about walking in the spirit,
and you can see a clear structure, but you don't
necessarily do them. One, two, three, four. Dwight
Eisenhower made an interesting comment as president.
He said, the urgent is rarely important and the
important is rarely urgent. The things that matter
most, the things that will just take you down
the road and help you become the person you long
to be, there's no gun to your head that says
develop a deep, intimate relationship with God.
Study his word. when there's 15 emails or 150
emails to answer. Well, how do you get ahold
of them? I mean, how do you get a grip on it?
We've looked at six ways that say, you know what,
these are indicators. These are like six lights
on the dashboard of your life telling you what's
going on in your soul. And you know what, if
you got two or three of those flashing, God's
saying, hey, time out. And by the way, something
I want you to hear, It will require, this is
not one of those issues that you say, oh, I heard
from God. I'm going to start tomorrow and everything
will be fine. You didn't get your priorities
where they are that affects so many relationships
like overnight. They don't change overnight.
Someone has said significant lasting change never
occurs without serious prolonged thinking. The
issue is not tweaking something. I'm not an expert,
but I can just tell you, this is a smart group
of people. If tweaking your priorities worked,
they would already be fixed. Because you're smart
people. I'm telling you, for many of you, what
you have to realize is, what is my purpose? Why
am I here? What season am I in? And it's not
tweaking. It's saying, I've got all these things
on my plate. That doesn't belong on my plate.
That's not God's will. That's expectations. That
doesn't belong on my plate. That was for the
last season, but now this doesn't belong on my
plate. Wait, this does, but I've got to make
room. But that's really good, and I've always
done it, and I love it. And people give me so
many lordship. OK, Lord, this does. Sort of take
time to think to ponder Priorities and balancing
your life really have to do with getting really
clear on who you are What God wants you to do
and then getting a sense of holy urgency and
realizing life is passing And you're gonna die
and I'm gonna die and this unconscious human
thought that we had that You know, I'm gonna
kinda work on that next week. You know, you gotta
stop. I mean, that's why coaches, I mean, they
just call time out. The momentum's going this
way. They've scored three times in a row. Hey,
I don't know what we're doing, but it's not the
right thing. And some of us, we have those misplaced
priorities and some of you have four or five
of those symptoms. And instead of stopping and
saying, whoa, I gotta really reevaluate, we go
faster. I'll multitask more. This is Living on
the Edge with Chip Ingram, and you've been listening
to part one of Chip's message, The Peace and
Power of a Prioritized Life from our series,
Balancing Life's Demands. Chip will be back shortly
to share some helpful application for us to think
about. Are you overwhelmed by the pressure to
do more, have more, and achieve more? In this
10 -part series, Chip provides practical biblical
steps to help you move your life from chaos to
contentment. Discover how to align your priorities
around God's vision for your life and the discipline
to not only put first things first, but keep
them there. You're not going to want to miss
a single program of this series. Well, Chip's
back in studio with me now. And Chip, with summertime
ending and fall routine settling back in, this
is a time when a lot of people rethink their
schedules and priorities. So why do you think
it's so difficult for us to balance the many
demands on our lives? Well, I think it's always
been hard. And we live in a world that a great
majority of people are overwhelmed. overcommitted
and exhausted unless you identify where you're
at, Dave. Unless you begin to think about who
do I want to become and what's a strategy and
a plan that aligns with our calendar and our
schedules. but it really got to get a hold of
some key things like your time, your energy,
your money, and rethink those first so that what
gets played out in terms of our family, our calendars,
and our work just doesn't multiply the way it
is. I mean, I am guilty of trying to accomplish
more in a week, more in a day, more in a year
than I can. As people listened, To this message,
I think they heard a number of symptoms. They'll
think, oh my, how could anyone ever know about
these things? Well, it's because I've lived them.
And what I long for people to do is be able to
break out of this cycle. I still struggle, but
I've really broken out of it in major ways. And
I have to recalibrate. Sometimes it's every six
or eight months. Sometimes it's a big recalibration.
like I did just about two, three months ago,
where I just said, I have to rethink my whole
calendar and my whole focus for the next year.
And so we want to give people God's word on how
to do that. Well, thanks for that setup, Chip.
Well, I hope you'll continue listening to this
series. And even though we're about halfway through
this study, encourage a few friends to listen
with you, either through the Chip Ingram app
or wherever you listen to podcasts. Well, with
that, here again is Chip. You know, the older
I get, I realize that life is lived in seasons.
You know, there's different seasons and there's
different priorities in different seasons. Whether
you're kind of like young and a student, there's
a set of priorities and, you know, life changes
for many. You get married, you have kids, empty
nester, grandparents. Some of you are grandparents
raising kids again. Physical limitations, job
and career changes. Every season of life demands
that we stop, begin to ask ourselves, Lord, what
season am I in? And are the priorities that I
have right now the priorities that you want me
to have? We're going to go on a journey about
balancing life's demands. And let's face it,
most of us, and at least everybody I know, we
try to take on too much. We're really busy. We
feel overwhelmed. This series is about helping
you balance and align your life. But I just want
to warn you, it takes courage to evaluate, what
am I going to let go of? Because it almost always
means that someone gets a little bit disappointed.
But here's the good news. Your life is given
to you by God. He's got a set of priorities.
He wants you to richly enjoy it. And when you're
doing what he wants you to do, it's not just
good for you. It's best for everyone around you.
Hope you'll stay with us for this entire series.
I think it's going to be a great time together.
Looking forward to learning more from this teaching
chip. As we wrap up, I want to thank those of
you who make this program possible through your
generous financial support. Your gifts help us
create programs, purchase airtime, and develop
additional resources to help Christians live
like Christians. Now, if you've been blessed
by the ministry of Living on the Edge, would
you consider sending a gift today? You can do
that by visiting livingontheedge .org or by calling
888 -333 -6003. That's 888 -333 -6003 or visit
livingontheedge .org. App listeners, tap Donate.
We want you to know how much we appreciate your
support. You've been listening to a selected
program that we wanted to share from this past
week. To hear more from Chip's series, Balancing
Life's Demands, go to livingontheedge .org or
wherever you listen to podcasts. Until next time,
I'm Dave Druy saying thanks for listening to
this weekend edition of Living on the Edge.