239. Importance of Container
While doing home office re-organization during the pandemic, I realized an important principle: Without a container, there is no organization. As simple as it may sound, for anything to get organized, it needs a container. I used to categorize things in the same drawer, only to realize they get messy again. My organization was swapping locations, which was bound to change again next time. It was because I never invested in purchasing containers for them. Once I did some research and bought a bunch of containers, things became sorted correctly and organized once and for all.
I think it is the same with our lives. Some people have too many pursuits that they feel unorganized and confused. What contains them neatly are our Priorities. In other words, when we don’t take time to think about what is “important” in our lives first, too many pieces of our lives will remain unorganized. Without right priority, values and convictions, we will always feel that everything is important (or nothing is important). It leads to the feeling of confusion and messiness.
The good news is that Jesus made it clear what priority deserves our number one list: God’s kingdom. (Matthew 6:33) And he promised to satisfy every other priority that is important to us—but trying to make this our priority is difficult. Many still feel unorganized and end up with multiple priorities that begin to conflict with one another. It is because what we consider important can vary based on who we are at the moment. For example, a father of two children will have very different priorities compared to a single man. So, to set the right preferences, we first need to be clear about who we are.
If we see ourselves as God’s servants (Romans 1:1), it becomes easier to set this as our number one priority. But if we see ourselves as owners of our money, time, talent, children and career, seeking God’s kingdom will come in conflict with other priorities.
But don’t beat yourself for having conflicting priorities. We constantly hear different messages from different sources: One from the world and the other from God’s Word. Tension is expected. The best starting point of having the right priority is to keep hearing from the right source. God’s word will always clarify who we are and what we need to prioritize.
