People’s lives today are filled with obligations and responsibilities. The idea of multitasking has only created more challenges for the average woman to face. One of the most common reasons women give for not getting involved in ministry is lack of time. With an already-full schedule, there doesn’t seem to be room to add anything more.
The Importance of Priorities
These same women would somehow find a way to fit in another activity for their kids or another obligation at work. They would manage to run an important errand for their husbands in spite of having no spare time. The problem is not lack of time, but not making ministry a priority.
The Proverbs 31 woman was just as busy as we are today. And don’t forget that she didn’t have modern technology to help accomplish anything. She worked, took care of kids and a husband and still found time to minister to the poor and needy. If she did it, why can’t we?
It’s true that you can’t do everything; some things have to go. The key is to learn how to prioritize your responsibilities and make time for the important things in life instead of just the urgent. All too often we fill our days with tasks that seem urgent but have no eternal meaning. If we set up treasures in heaven as the Bible tells us to do, it would change our focus.
“Make” Time
You probably can’t find any time that is not already booked in your schedule to get involved in ministry. That doesn’t mean you are given a pass and can skip out on ministry. Instead, you have to make time by clearing a space in your schedule.
Take a week and write down every activity that you do from the moment you wake until you go to bed. Then, look at your list and see where you can make changes to fit in a ministry opportunity. Aim to gain at least a couple of hours a week to get started. You may have to spend some time over your list or even share it with someone else since you are adjusted to your current routine. Here are some suggestions to help you get started:
- Carpool with another mother to your kids’ sporting events – on the day or week you don’t have driving duties, you can use that time to volunteer
- Ask your husband or a friend to watch the kids one evening a week
- Use your lunch break at your job to work at a soup kitchen
- Take your kids with you one Saturday a month to help out at a food pantry
- Volunteer to use your skills at home for a ministry when the kids are asleep – stay up an hour later to write up a grant or make scarves and blankets for the homeless or to alter an interview suit for a woman at a woman’s shelter
These are just a few small ways you can find time to be involved in ministry. Aim to make at least two hours a week available and you will discover that it is easier to add more. Ask about the needs of a local ministry and figure out how you can fulfill one of those needs in your schedule. How have you found ways to fit ministry into your routine?
