Confessions of a Chronic Multi-Tasker

I am a multi-tasker.  Even when I am relaxing I have to be doing at least one other thing to make the best use of my time.  So taking time just to be be alone with the Lord can be a challenge for me.  Because I so need that rest with Him, I do notice if I have missed my quality, devoted, quiet time each day alone with God.  I don’t have a problem praying while driving or listening to sermons in the car, but taking that time in the morning to do nothing else but commune with God, that singleness of purpose both stretches me and relieves me simultaneously.

Give ear to my words, O Lord; 

Consider my groaning.

Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God,

For to You I pray.

In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;

In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. Psalm 5:1-3

Living the busy American lifestyle that we do, especially in the greater metropolitan Washington area, I find myself feeling overwhelmed by the torrent of what must be done more often than I like to admit.  So, I like the efficiency of doing phone business while walking, eating meals while cleaning up, folding clothes or working on the computer while watching tv.  I think I can more successfully reach the shore of ‘isle complete’ if I bail out my boat while simultaneously rowing in the midst of the deluge of so much to do.  

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have  relieved me in my distress;
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. Psalm 4:1

Nothing wrong with multi-tasking.  However, like so many things in life, it is a strength and a weakness.  It can help one be more efficient and more effective, but it can also can cause one to miss some very important facets of life.  If I don’t stop work on my computer while talking with my daughter, if I am taking phone calls or responding to every text message while meeting with a friend, if I am working through my sudoku puzzle while having breakfast with my husband, am I giving any of them the attention they or I need?  Sometimes multi-tasking does not stem the tide of flood overwhelm at all, but rather adds to it.  In fact the rain and reign of ‘to do’s’ can fill the boat faster than I can empty on a regular basis. 

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there be any hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the everlasting way.  Psalm 139:23-24

I don’t need a special label like ADD to experience the distractibility of a thousand things to think about or to do.  With so much going on about us and within us seemingly non-stop, is it any wonder that there is difficulty shutting down, getting sleep, having peace.  Restlessness rather than restfulness is the product of multi-tasking overload. 

 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

Praying without ceasing, also a Biblical principle (1 Thessalonians 5:17), is so important as we go through the day and is multi-tasking at its best.  I do want to thank the Lord for the parking spot I just got close to the door or far from it;  I want to pray for the unfriendly cashier who needs some Holy Spirit intervention.  I want to seek the Lord throughout the day to stay connected to the power and peace that only comes from Him.

Seek the Lord and His strength;

Seek His face continually. Psalm 105:4                                              

The only way for that power and peace to be there for me to draw from, however, is if I am being completely immersed in prayer and the Word with Him regularly.  And I am learning also how perhaps my church worship has been marred by not truly preparing my heart before hand or being fully engaged as I think of those within church with whom I have business.  By the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I began joining in the prayer group before church.  How I have seen a significant difference in my whole-hearted attention to the Lord and the richness of my worship with this little change.

Make me understand the way of Your precepts, So I will meditate on Your wonders.  Psalm 119: 28

As a chronic multi-tasker, the singleness of focus, especially with God is essential to my well-being on a number of levels.  For a number of years, the Lord has been teaching me the importance of stopping and centering on Him, investing myself in my devotional time, my worship, my prayers without accomplishing anything else.  There is nothing else that sets me free, nothing else that empowers, nothing else that provides the peace that passes understanding.  It is in the exclusivity of devoted time with my God that I find all of this and the delight of my heart.

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;

Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.  Psalm 32:6