"I’m busy but I’m doing nothing" by Pastor Mike Roberts

Pastor Mike Roberts is the youth pastor of Believer's Christian Fellowship in Warren, OH and is a close friend of the Shelter Student Ministries.

A while back I looked at my life and realized something…A lot of times I’m busy but not productive. I work hard, I have a busy schedule, but so many times I have little to show for it.

Have you ever been there before? I bet with meetings, school, work, extra-curricular activities, relationships, and church responsibilities you’re busy. I have no doubt that you work hard, but are you accomplishing a lot with your life? Could you be doing more? Undertaking more? Conquering more? Completing more?

I bet you could; I know I could! So here are a couple of thoughts that I have been challenging myself with in my endeavor to “accomplish,” not just “do” more with my life.

What are you passionate about? So few times we never do what we’re passionate about. What if you identified your passions and then made a choice that no matter what you did in your day you would at least do one thing that would tap into that passion? Take a minute and think about what makes you mad, what makes you glad, what makes you cry. Chances are that is what you’re passionate about.

What do you have the potential to be the best in the world at? In my experience, trying to be good at everything means you’ll be great at nothing. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book, Outliers, said that it basically takes 10,000 hours to be at expert in something. It doesn’t matter whether it is academics or athletics! What if you stopped trying to be good at everything and just tried to be great at one thing?

What does success look like for you? Is it making a lot of money? Getting a scholarship for college? Making the football team? Being a good friend? Being a better Christian? I think sometimes we never have the feeling of success in our lives because we never took the time to define what that looks like in our own individual lives.

Here’s what I suggest…Schedule an appointment with yourself; take one hour and in the context of prayer answer the above questions. Then let your answers guide you on what groups you join, what activities you participate in, how you spend your time, and what goals you set. Let’s not just “do” more with our lives, but let’s “accomplish” more!

Pastor Mike Jr