Productivity - Devotion for 10/1/08

Productivity – Devotion for 10/1/08

Some days just seem to be completely unproductive. Yesterday was one of those days. From the moment I walked into the office it seemed like a tropical storm was blowing through the building. Phone call after phone call, visitor after visitor, visitor while on a phone call, visitor sitting down in my office uninvited while I’m on a phone call. You ever have one of those days? I felt like the most productive thing I did was I eventually went and ate lunch. From my own personal goofiness, I’ve learned that God truly does use all things to His glory, but I couldn’t help but think, “Even this day God?”

So in the quiet of my office this morning (ahhhh!), I was doing some reading and I came across a prayer by John Baillie that was originally a part of A Diary of Private Prayer. One line in particular of that prayer really jumped out at me: “Have I today done anything to fulfill the purpose which Thou didst cause me to be born?” As I read that question in the prayer, I immediately thought of yesterday. And I began to wonder, “God, did I actually do anything to fulfill the purpose you made me for yesterday?” Though yesterday still seems to be an incredible blur (except for the lady walking in my office and sitting down while I was on the phone), I can not honestly answer that question in the positive. I’m not exactly sure that I did anything yesterday to fulfill the purpose for which God allowed me to be born. But just because I can’t recall that for yesterday doesn’t mean that it can’t be something I focus on today.

Our lives will always be filled with unproductive days. But we can still be productive in our lives. Psalm 92:12-15 states, “The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and very green, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” Each day we can try to “grow like a cedar” – growing in God’s grace. Each day we can still bear fruit – even in old age. Even when things seem unproductive in our work lives, let us still try to keep in mind that we can still attempt to be productive in fulfilling our reason for being – even if that means enduring the unproductive interruptions that sometimes God brings in – even into our office while we’re on the phone.