Time and the Fear of God

Obviously Outlook reminders are only as good as the person choosing to dismiss or snooze! Eventually I'm going to get my life back in control and get better at blogging at least every other day.
Right now you're probably rolling your eyes and thinking, "Yeah right! That's what we all say." But it really is possible to have more control over your life. God doesn't put us in a constant state of crisis, always overwhelmed by too many things. We do that to ourselves. Anything we do to ourselves, at least time wise, can be "undone." We can gain control over our time, at least most of the time. Sure there will be crises, but we'll have a strength of character to deal with them if we normally live proactively rather than reactively. When we can plan out most of our days and stick to the plan, we have greater reserves to draw on when something unexpected happens. All you need to do is learn to say "no."
There are so many good things to do in life, and everyone thinks their project is the best one. They want a piece of you and they can't understand why you wouldn't jump at the chance to get on board with them. Rarely do they (we. all of us do it to others too) stop to think about the fifty other people who have asked for your help this week. If God gave them a mission, then shouldn't everyone be on board with it?
When I get my focus on God and what my personal mission is from him, I can begin to get more control over everything else. God created me to be a writer and I firmly believe he wants me to use my talent for his glory. I must write. Above all else -the women's ministry, the marriage ministry, the prison ministry, the divorce ministry, the Island Christian Guide ministry, and every other ministry that calls for my attention - I have to first be true to that which God created me to do. No matter what I want to do, love to do, I need to obey God first.
That's what fear of the Lord is. It's being way more concerned about letting God down, disobeying him than we are about letting down anyone else. How many times have I said, 'yeah, I'll do it,' knowing that if I do what I'm committing to, something else will have to slide? If I let the leader of a ministry, a business contact or even my husband dictate to me what is most important, I risk setting them up as an idol in my life. Sure I need to listen, get their input, but when it comes down to it, sometimes I have to say "No, God is giving me a different mission. I gotta go that way." I have to work with others because God intends for all of us to be in relationship, but the bottom line is, I'm directly responsible to God for what I have done with my life. He's the one I'm going to have to answer to one of these days. No matter how hard my husband frowns at me, I've got to fear God's frown even more!