OVERWHELMED?

I'm feeling a little bit like this mama duck - trying to get my ducks in a row, while everyone is waiting on me to hurry it up. Ever feel that way? A little overwhelmed by all there is to accomplish in a day, a week, a month - a lifetime?

Well, I was reading about Solomon this morning, and he certainly had a lot to accomplish in building God's Temple. Now, the Temple itself wasn't all that big. 90' x 30' and 45' high. Some of our houses are larger than that. The real overwhelming work came in the detailed finishing work. As I read 1 Kings 5-7, I noticed two ways Solomon dealt with all the overwhelming tasks of preparing, building and furnishing God's Temple.

1. He Asked For Help. 1 Kings 7:13-14 - "King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram...a craftsman in bronze. Huram was highly skilled and experienced...." Solomon thought outside the box - he left the borders of Israel to find the help he needed to get the job done excellently. It's sometimes hard to admit I can't do it all myself. Sometimes it's simply hard to find people willing to help me! But finding the right people to help at the proper time is essential in managing all the Lord has given me to accomplish for Him.
2. He Took His Time. 1 Kings 6:38 - "[Solomon] spent seven years building it." Solomon took time and used it wisely. We each have 60 seconds in every minute and 60 minutes in every hour and 24 hours every day. That's 86,400 seconds everyday to complete the tasks before us. Subtract 28,800 seconds for sleep, and we still have 57,600 seconds to redeem for the Kingdom! That's a lot of time to take!

So, today I've been asking people to help line up my ducks, and I've been taking hold of the time rather than letting it slip through my fingers. I'm still a little overwhelmed, but perhaps that's a good thing. It keeps me close to the One who created the ducks.