Busy But Empty

For so many of us being busy is a thing of pride. It makes us feel important and it quenches our thirst to be recognised and validated. For others, it gives them the feeling of fulfillment that they are on a path to success (depending on how they define success). Many of us confuse activity for progress and so we immerse ourselves in every activity within our reach at church, work, and in the home. We are always quick to utter the words “I am busy”, and truly, being busy has become a habit for us because we live in a busy world. When there are no activities to keep us occupied, we create new activities. We proudly show off our fully booked calendar to demonstrate the importance of our time and our activities. We involve ourselves with every group, committee, and community. We attend every event and belong to many social media and messaging application groups. Technology is supposed to make life and communication easier but at this rate, it intrudes into our lives to the point that we depend on it to function optimally. Everything is loud and busy in our lives but yet, we are still empty.

I was brought up in a Christian home and my father is a Pastor. I know what it means to be busy with Church activities. There were periods we were  occupied with church activities and programs from Sunday to the following Sunday. I grew up understanding the importance of serving in God’s House and as a consequence, I always look for an opportunity to serve wherever I worship. As an undergraduate, I learned an important lesson about being too busy without oiling my lamp. I wore many hats and found myself immersed in activities and programs on the campus fellowship. I was drowning, drained, and empty yet I appeared to be doing fine. Church activities can’t replace our relationship with God. I had a very good relationship with the church, the choir, and the fellowship leaders but my relationship with God, and my love for God grew cold. I got closer to the church but farther from God. I lost my intimacy with God. My appetite for God dwindled and everything became mechanical, like a routine I had to tick off the box. Many of us are caught up in this kind of situation, we appear to be doing fine on the outside but on the inside, we know our spiritual health is suffering.  Do you first schedule other activities in your life before you begin to scout for little time in your busy schedule to fellowship with God?

There are so many things that will take our attention, and no matter how noble they are, God still wants us at His feet with undivided attention. The devil knows that if he can use distractions to take your eyes off Jesus, he can easily direct your attention to himself and the works of the flesh.

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus visited Mary and Martha. While Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to Him teach, Martha was distracted and busy preparing a meal for Him. This was a good action by Martha, and I can assume many of us will put up a hospitable environment and try to make Jesus comfortable if He visited our homes. At some point, Martha did not feel it was right for Mary to be listening to Jesus while she did all the work, she said “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” Jesus answered, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” The problem wasn’t that Martha was busy with service, the problem was that she got distracted (Luke 10:40). There are so many things that will take our attention, and no matter how noble they are, God still wants us at His feet with undivided attention. When we are at His feet, we fix our eyes on Him.  Many of us are actively serving in Church and other noble organizations, and we attend all Church programs and conferences but our eyes have left Jesus. The good intentions behind your busy schedule is not an excuse to neglect learning at the feet of Jesus. The devil knows that if he can use distractions to take our eyes off Jesus, he can easily direct our attention to himself and the works of the flesh. Many of us unknowingly buy into the mindset that our busy service to God can compensate for our lack of fellowship with Him. It is only a matter of time before we realize we are empty and every other thing is meaningless if we do not constantly fellowship with the Father.

The world will come to you and keep you busy with good causes until you are emptied of the very substance that made them knock at your door. Don’t be too busy serving while the candle of your intimacy with God burns out. Share on X

For some of us, it might take storms to rock our boat before we realize Jesus wasn’t on our boat, we left Him on the shore but embarked on a busy journey to “catch fishes for Him”. It is interesting that we always claim to be busy until we encounter a challenge, and then suddenly everything that couldn’t wait can wait. For instance, we had plans for the year 2020 but the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic paused or derailed many plans—because plans can only be executed by healthy people, our health became a priority. If we don’t consider our spiritual health a priority, we will keep using our busy lives to make excuses, we will burn out and become empty. We will have no strength to continue with the service and work we consider most important. 

The world will come to you and keep you busy with good causes until you are emptied of the very substance that made them knock at your door. Don’t be too busy while the candle of your intimacy with God burns out. Despite the very busy schedule and ministry of Jesus Christ, He still took out time to pray and communicate with His Father. In Mark 1:22-35, Jesus had a busy day in Galilee—teaching in the Synagogue, casting out devils, and healing the sick. Yet, in the morning of the next day, long before daylight He went to a solitary place to pray. His strength came from His secret and personal fellowship with God, this should be our example.

Shut down that computer, switch off your internet, cancel that unimportant meeting or unplanned event, spend less time chatting or using social media sites, take a break from the noise and spend time in fellowship and devotion with God. I recall a Sunday School song we sang as kids, it goes: “God has something to say, God has something to say. Listen, listen, pay attention for God has something to say.” Stop being distracted by the noise of this busy world, take a break, and take a rest. God has something to say to you, listen, and pay attention. Only by this can the emptiness in your life be filled with the river of life that flows from the throne of God.

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