{Godly Gain} Busyness: Does it Equal Good Business?

Welcome to the Author Audience show, the podcast that helps you reach more people with your message, create a book, connect with your audience, change lives. Here's your host, Shelly Hitz.

Hey, guys, I'm CJ Hitz.

And I'm Shelly Hitz.

And we want to welcome you to another godly gains segment. And today we want to talk about busyness. Does it equal good business?

Yeah, this is a great topic because I think we all can get caught up in that hamster wheel of busyness.

Yeah. So how many of us can relate to being busy all the time and just kind of going through all of the protocol and all of the ideas that we have and just kind of flittering and fluttering everywhere? And then we kind of look back and we wonder, what did I really accomplish that's really worthwhile? I mean, I spent a lot of time on something, but what do I have to show for it was even worth it? And so want to just talk briefly about just busyness and how it relates to business. You know, those of you that are watching, you're involved in a business of some kind, whether it be book writing and publishing or whether it be some kind of a small business that you run or product that you developed or created and sell. And so I want to read a story that many of us are probably familiar with. And it's the story regarding Jesus having dinner with Mary and Martha. Two sisters. Of course, they had a brother as well, named Lazarus, and that's a whole other story. Perhaps we can even weave that in down the road in a godly gain segment. But I want to read the story From Luke, chapter 10 of Jesus with Mary and Martha. And so, Starting in verse 38, it says this. As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.

But the Lord said to her, my dear Martha, you are worried and upset over these details. There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her. And so let's just first of all mention that someone did have to prepare dinner. You know, if they were going to have dinner together. Someone actually had to. Yeah, had to do the hard work in the kitchen.

That has to be done.

So not discounting, you know, what Martha was doing, Martha was up to fixing a good meal for all of them to be able to enjoy together and continue to fellowship over. But there's a key phrase in here, and in verse 40, it says, but Martha was distracted. And how many of us can get distracted? The big D word.

We all know about distractions as writers.

And authors, big time. And so it says she was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. And how many of us have been distracted by perhaps a big deal or a big idea, book launch, a big something, fill in the blank of something we were preparing. It doesn't have to be a meal, just fill in the blank. I think many of us, we get these great ideas and then we kind of launch into it, and then we kind of hope that the Lord's even on board and it could be a good thing. You know, it's going to help a lot of people. It's something that needs a lot of time and we need to stay busy doing it. And yet many times we miss the boat. We just miss the best part. And Jesus is essentially telling Martha, okay, Martha, calm down, calm down. I know dinner needs to be prepared, and I appreciate you doing that and you're serving us. But don't knock on Mary for what she's chosen in this moment. You know, Mary has chosen to sit at my feet and to take in the things that I'm sharing, the things that I'm teaching. She's absorbing time with me. And I think many times that's the thing that we miss. We miss sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to him. And perhaps even in that listening, we might find an even better idea or something that Jesus really has for us instead of constantly staying busy, doing a good thing, but not the best thing.

It's like Abraham, I think it was Abraham Lincoln said, if you would just take a few minutes to sharpen your axe as you're chopping down a tree, you know, your work would go so much faster. And I think for us, sometimes we're so busy and you want to get that book finished or that product launched or that book launched, and. And you're just chopping, chopping, chopping, trying to chop away at the tree with a dull axe. If we would just stop and I'm as guilty as anyone. Stop and pray, spend time. Lately, for me, I've been taking walks and they've been prayer walks where I'm actually visualizing the Holy Spirit walking with me, talking with me. But that would sharpen our acts. And like CJ said, God can give us even better ideas, reroute us, save us time, overcome tech and demons or tech problems sometimes, you know, and he can go before us instead of us, just chopping, chopping, chopping, chopping, chopping, chopping, and barely getting anything done.

You know, many of you might be able to relate to this where you get up in the morning, then all of a sudden you head by your computer and you open that up and you get involved in something that might be good again. You know, it's answering an email. But then that leads to five other things, five other rabbit trails, and you miss. Pretty soon you have a meeting that you know is an hour later and you got to get ready for. And you've missed that really sweet time with the Lord where it's just quiet. Maybe over a cup of coffee, you're sitting in your easy chair, Bible opened, whatever your favorite devotion may be.

CJ's easy chair is right over there.

Yeah, I love that. And I really try to make it a habit of getting that cup of coffee and then coming in to sit in my chair and opening up the word and then just marinating in it. I don't always do that. There have been many times when I get distracted by something and man, I'll tell you what, the rest of the day just doesn't seem to go smoothly. I don't know how it all works. I just know that sometimes I'm more impatient, shorter in my responses to people. And the only way I can explain it is I haven't truly connected with my creator and plugged in for that power to deal with the rest of the day.

I remember a business coach telling me one time, I can definitely be a workaholic. And CJ knows that. And when we were first starting our business, there would be days I would work 12 and 14 hour days, right? I mean, I was working a lot, a lot of days. Now we have a team and God's blessed us. We've been able to expand a little bit. So I'm not having to work as much. But I remember her saying to me, shelly, do you really think you're going to be productive when you're working that many hours? You're tired, you're stressed out, are you really going to be as effective? And you know, I think we get this mindset that the more work we do, the more things we accomplish, the harder we try, the more hours we work, it's just going to make everything better. But sometimes what happens is it actually can decrease Our productivity instead of just taking some time away and then just having a block of time, you know, really having a powerful, productive time. And so I just want to challenge you in that because I needed that challenge at times. Like, sometimes we're just working so many hours that it actually saps our productivity in our creativity.

And.

And as Christians, God's the one that can give us those ideas and really pave the way for us. So what's your closing thought for us?

So, you know, just sharing from a personal level again. Verse 41, Jesus says to Martha, my dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details. And I remember, just give you an example with me personally, I do some speaking, and many of my speaking engagements through the years came through cold contacts, you know, with reaching out to Christian schools or churches or camps just to kind of get my name out there. It was that shameless self promotion. And I remember, you know, I would send out emails to all kinds of schools, and I'd be just constantly wanting to check to see how they responded and just busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, you know, trying to send out a good marketing email or put together a good mailing that I could send out a physical mailing. And I remember my good friend Philip Telfer, who I've done ministry with through the years. He runs an organization, a ministry that is very successful. And Philip once told me, he said, you know, one of the habits that I'm trying to get into, CJ, is praying twice as much as I spend in my marketing. Yeah, I'm sending out emails or phone calls. And I remember it just really hit me because I thought, man, I'll bet you I'm spending five times as much time on the marketing side as I am on the praying side, probably even more.

And.

Exactly. You know, and so I guess my challenge to you and to myself at the same time is how much time are we really spending? As Jesus said, there's only one thing worth being concerned about. How much time are you spending in prayer in that closet? Just you and the Lord, and even just giving him all of your desires and giving him those great ideas that many of which are probably put on your heart by the Lord. But how many of us are really spending that quality time seeking the best thing and not just seeking Jesus for his hand, but really seeking his presence? And then just out of that sweet fellowship with Jesus, I think so many awesome things, including business ideas can come about. And so take that to heart in terms of busyness versus good business.

Yeah, I was just sharing in the Author Audience Academy Group Yesterday I've been in a funk and it was really bad this week again. But it's been about the last months since I've been working on this new book project. And one of the members said she was really having some struggles too. And, you know, she's like, so I set up this little corner and it's my. It's my place to pray. And she said, I just got on my knees and I stayed there until I got peace. And then she said she had peace and now she's moving forward. And so many times when you're out there and you're on the front lines and you're actively sharing and everything, it's so easy just to get caught up in the busyness that we unplug from the power source and then we get all of those worries and distractions. And believe me, I've been there. And, you know, it's been a fierce spiritual battle lately. But it truly is that relationship and intimacy with God that is so key, no matter what we're doing and whether it's personal and business or whatever. So why don't we just pray over you today? Just pray God's peace and that he would just really give you time, wherever it is. I know some people are just busy parents and sometimes that time is in your shower or maybe, you know, when you're in the car or you take a walk or whatever it is, but taking that time to really connect with him. So, God, I just pray right now for everyone who is listening. I pray that your peace that passes all understanding would wash over them right now. In Jesus name, I command any fear or worry or striving to leave in Jesus name. And I just pray, Lord, that there would just be an overwhelming hunger in each one of us to spend time with you, to seek you. Just like I was sharing a story of one of our authors that just. She's like, I'm going to go onto my knees and I'm going to stay here until I get peace and until I hear from you. And I just pray that we would just be persistent in hearing from you and just coming to you and making that just, you know, 24 7, just part of our life. Like, you are right here sitting in the room with us. Because you are. Thank you for your holy Spirit. Thank you for empowering us. Thank you for fresh starts. We're all guilty. We've all. We've all gone astray. We've all been distracted. We've all been worried and, you know, we've all gotten caught up in the busyness of life before. Maybe we're caught up in it right now. So Lord, I just pray that we would just confess any busyness to you, any distractions, any things that have taken us away from you. And Lord, I just thank you for fresh starts. I thank you for that. We can start this week anew and we just pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. So folks, go with this thought that you can go from busyness to being about Jesus's business.

Amen.

God bless you guys.

All right, we'll see you guys next time. Bye. Bye.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Author Audience Show. Connect with us online@authoraudience.com where you'll find all the resources mentioned in today's episode. While you're there, grab Shelley's free video training on how to write and publish your book using her six Step Ascent method. Join us again next week to learn how to reach your audience with your message.