TBC Women’s Fellowship

Meditation

 Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.”

Christians are surrounded by temptations. But just like Daniel, we should resolve not to defile ourselves with sins surround us. Avoidance of sin is a process as we can see from what Daniel did.

We too can learn from Daniel. While we are all in quarantine, we can also resolve to be productive. However, we must start by being true to our resolution: “I want to be productive this quarantine period.” The following is the process we can follow to help us to be productive. Note that being productive is not for us, but for the glory of God.

First is the making of a resolution.  (“But Daniel resolved that he will not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine that he drank.”). Foremost of all, it is crucial to have the conviction to be productive for the Lord. Being in quarantine can be a good excuse to take things easy, and to enjoy the time where there are no deadlines, no traffic to beat, no children to bring to school. Yet it is in this period of extended time at home, where we can do so much for the Lord. Let us ask the Lord’s blessing that we do more for Him in this season of confinement. 

Second is acting on our resolution (“Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.”)

We must strategize to ensure that we can act on our resolution. Daniel sought the help of the chief of the Eunuch. He went through the proper channel in addressing the problem. In like manner, we must also take the best approach in solving our problem. For instance, if our problem is time management, we can learn from people who have been successful in managing their time. The following are some management tips from CEOs and bloggers I remember from my readings. (Apologies if I can’t recall their names. )

1. MIT – do the Most Important Task first. Know your topmost priority for the day and allot time to do it first.

2. List down your 3 most important tasks for the day and do them first. We have a lot of duties in the home and family. We also have hobbies we want to pursue. In order not to get lost in many works before us, we have to do the most important first. Here we need God’s wisdom to know what tasks are essential and should be first in our to-do list. 

3. FOCUS (Focus On Course Until Success). Work on a 2-hour block of time. We should tell ourselves, “I should not be distracted by the nonessentials.”, until I finish this task I am doing. It is not absolute, though, especially for mothers who have so many important things to do on her plate. If we can help it, we can focus on doing a critical task at a time. 

4. I can do this in 5 or 15 minutes. Time yourself and make it a challenge to finish a task – say clearing the kitchen counter or cleaning the bathroom in ten minutes.

5. The 5-minute miracle. This is to do speed-cleaning before leaving your bedroom or bathroom. It also works when we are to leave the house and allow an extra five minutes to do a quick clean-up before going to church. It always feels rewarding to get inside a cleanroom. 

Third is to expect God’s blessing on our resolution. (“And God gave favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the Eunuchs.”). The Lord worked in the heart of the Eunuch to allow the Hebrews to eat what Daniel suggested. The Lord granted favor and compassion to Daniel. Surely, if we will have the same resolve to be productive, the Lord will bless that decision. He will align people and events so we can achieve our goal of being productive. Not only during quarantine but all the days of our lives. 

HDL for TBC Women’s Fellowship (April 16, 2020)