Put It Down

We live in a world that celebrates multitasking. We answer emails while eating lunch, check messages during meetings, listen to someone while thinking about the next thing we need to do, and move from one responsibility to another without ever really stopping.

Sometimes we even feel proud of it. The more we can juggle, the more productive we think we are. But eventually, something gets dropped.

The other day I was watching a waiter in a restaurant carrying several plates at once. One plate was easy. Two were manageable. Three or four required more balance. But as more plates were added, every step became more difficult. One wrong movement, and everything could come crashing down.

Life can feel like that.

We keep adding more to our hands and more to our minds: responsibilities, appointments, projects, worries, conversations, expectations. We convince ourselves that carrying more means we are accomplishing more.

But sometimes the opposite happens. Our attention becomes divided. We make mistakes. We forget things. We hear people without really listening to them. We are physically present in one place while mentally somewhere else.

Scripture gives us a simple but important reminder: “Let all things be done decently and in order.” — 1 Corinthians 14:40

There is something deeply spiritual about order. God does not ask us to live scattered lives. He calls us to be faithful in what is in front of us. To give our attention to the person before us. To do the task at hand well. To pray when we pray, listen when we listen, work when we work, and rest when we rest.

Multitasking often gives us the illusion that we are doing more, when in reality we may simply be doing many things with less care. Sometimes wisdom is not learning how to carry more. Sometimes wisdom is knowing what to put down.

Ask yourself: What has God actually given me to carry today? What can wait? What can I entrust to someone else? And most importantly, what do I need to place into God’s hands?

Perhaps there is a worry you need to surrender. A problem you cannot solve tonight. A burden you have been carrying as though everything depends on you.

It does not.

You do not have to carry every plate at once. Some things can wait. Some things can be shared. Some things can simply be put down.

And some things belong in God's hands, not yours.