4 Conditions of Unhealthy Busyness
Glynnis Whitwer

By establishing boundaries for our busyness we give ourselves breathing room.

There’s an adage that says, “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” Clearly, the person who wrote this and the people who repeat it believe being busy is very wrong. But what if God is actually pleased with the right kind of busy?

There are only two references to busy in the New International Version of the Bible and both are positive. In Titus 2:5, the older women are to teach the younger women to “be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

The problem with wiring like mine (and I imagine yours) is I get too busy. It is like there’s a momentum that urges me on, until I find myself overloaded. Being busy isn’t the problem. Being busy in an unhealthy way is.

In reviewing the times in my life when I’ve been on overload, I’ve discovered four conditions of unhealthy busyness:

Being busy without boundaries. When I don’t have non-negotiable boundaries in my life, everything is fair game to cancel to get more done. I have to set a quitting time for the night, guard the Sabbath, and protect time with my husband and family. By establishing boundaries for our busyness, we give ourselves breathing room.

Being a busybody. A busybody is more concerned with what others are doing than what she is supposed to do. I find myself crossing this line when I want to offer my opinion when it’s not requested or spending too much time on social media.

Doing work I’m not called to do. I get over-busy when I assume responsibilities that aren’t mine to assume. When that happens, I’m ineffective in what I am called to do, and I end up once again with a chaotic schedule.

Focusing on busywork over my best work. Today’s busywork can look like work, but it’s not the best use of our time or energy at that moment. For me, I find answering emails an easier task than tackling a creative project. Since our best work usually requires the most from us, busywork is whatever we turn to rather than pushing or challenging ourselves.

I’m convinced busy isn’t bad. We are called to be productive. But busy taken to extremes is where we start to run life according to our to-do list, rather than God’s. When we do life God’s way, there is a pleasant sense of order, with enough time to do everything we need to do and everything we are called to do.

About The Author

Glynnis Whitwer

Glynnis Whitwer is Executive Director of Communications for Proverbs 31 Ministries, and contributor to their Encouragement for Today devotional, reaching over a million women each day. She’s the author of 10 books, including her newest release Doing Busy Better: Enjoying God’s Gifts of Work and Rest. She and her husband, Tod, live in Arizona and have five young-adult children. Connect with Glynnis at GlynnisWhitwer.com where she encourages women to live with margin and room to breathe while still getting things done.

The above article, “Conditions for Unhealthy Busyness” was written by Glynnis Whitwer. The article was excerpted from https://womensministry.net/members/4-conditions-of-unhealthy-busyness/

The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.

This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes, “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”