Have you ever decided to do some cleaning or organizing and ended up causing more work for yourself? I don’t mean more work in the actual cleaning, but rather, the work from the repercussions of the cleaning. It sounds rather counter productive, doesn’t it? Well, let me tell you what happened. Last night, I was mindlessly playing on the computer. I knew I should have followed my family to bed as it was late, but the bright, mesmerizing computer screen beckoned me. I succumbed to its allure and ignored my body telling me that it was way too tired to do anything productive. I checked my Pinterest Boards and re-pinned some posts. Then, I checked Facebook and discovered most of my friends were wise and were already be in bed. Finally, I checked my blog. I haven’t written as much as I would like to have written lately as my life has been going in several different directions at once (and maybe because I have been spending too much time with mindless busywork), but I still love to click around on it, check for comments and make an edit here and there. 

Well, for some reason I got it into my head that my connected Picasa photo album was too full. I had several doubles (and triples) of the pictures I’ve used in my blog posts and I innocently thought that it would be a good idea to clean out some of them. You know, so I would be more organized and would be able to find pictures I was looking for more easily. It sounded like a good idea. And, it theory, it was. However, I would soon discover otherwise.  After deleting and reorganizing for about an hour, my eyes were getting blurry and I finally forced myself to close the computer and go to bed. 

I didn’t think another thought about it as I blithely, walked upstairs, got ready and then crawled beneath the quilts. I had no idea while I slept that the little blogging elves had deleted most of the graphics on my blog! (Notice how I switched the blame there…) When I woke up I decided to check my Sharing His Beauty link-up to read some of the connected blog posts and discovered this catastrophe! When I saw that post after post on my blog had the graphics replaced with a great big, grey, empty circle (thank you Picasa for this beautiful warning graphic), my stomach lurched. Realization of what had happened sunk in and I knew that my plans for the day were now… well… different. I had several hours (days?) ahead of me that would now be filled with replacing the graphics with ones that fortunately were saved on my computer. 

Wow! What a lot of work! I sure could have saved myself a lot of time and trouble if I had just left well enough alone. My intentions were good, but the outcome was pretty annoying. The “good intentions” were not very well thought out. If I hadn’t been tired I would have taken the time to think it through and not ignored the polite warning sign that popped up each time I deleted a photo. If I had kept my priorities in the right place, I would have saved myself a lot of work. 

How many times in life to we ignore the warning signs? We discount that “still small voice” inside that is seeking to redirect us, as nothing. We stubbornly plow ahead even when we are tired and know we should be doing something else (like sleeping). Too often, I think. My blogging mishap has reminded me to keep things in their proper perspective. Rest is important. God demonstrated this to us in Genesis as He was creating the world (Genesis 2:2). If I had gotten the rest I needed, the rest that God was urging me to take, my body and mind would have been strong. I would have been more clear-headed and would have realized that the warning sign that kept popping up from Picasa was meant to help me, not be an annoyance to me. If I had put away my stubborn determination to continue playing, when I should have been in bed, I would have saved myself hours of work – hours that could have been spent being truly productive – maybe even doing something to serve the King! 

“Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busy work…” Ephesians 5:11, The Message 

Resting in Him,






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15 Comments

  1. I sure can relate to this! All too often I waste my time on useless busy work. May God help me to set my priorities right. Thanks for sharing this.
    - Lauren

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  2. Oh Joan, what an aggravation. I can so relate to this. There have been many times when something inside of me told me to stop, but I just kept going. The most recent is when I was trying to fix a *spot* on my new bathroom cabinets. I made it look good, but not quite perfect. I was tired, and should have left well enough alone, but I didn't. Hours later, I somehow finally rescued my *one last fix*...sigh.


    The spiritual lesson that you pulled out of your experience was perfect. God instructs us to rest for a reason - and we need to listen to, and then obey, His still, small voice.


    GOD BLESS!

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  3. Hi Sharon! I think that in today's world, we are all so busy, and quite often with things that don't really matter. We get tired out and don't focus as we should. But when we listen to God and follow His instruction, we'll have such a smoother time!


    Blessings, Joan

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  4. I sure can relate to this! All too often I waste my time on useless busy work. May God help me to set my priorities right. Thanks for sharing this.

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  5. Setting our priorities correctly can be challenging, but with God's help we can do it! Thanks for stopping by! Blessings, joan

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  6. WiseWords!

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  7. Pamela KuhnMarch 23, 2013

    I am so, so sorry. I can't imagine this happening to me. I'm sure I don't have all my pictures backed up. I'm afraid I spend too much time on busy work. Setting priorities (with God's help) for each day has helped me be more productive.

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  8. It was fortunate, that's for sure! (That I saved pics on my computer). I was able to replace most of the pictures for the past several month's of posts, as well as my sidebar, etc. But, if you dig deep enough in my blog you'll find those pesky blank circles from Picasa that show my blunder! I figure I'll slowly replace those...but not at the sacrifice of what God really wants me to do today! You are so right. Setting priorities with God's help is the thing to do!

    Blessings, Pamela! Joan

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  9. Oh I am so sorry about this! But thank you you found out about it and were able to replace your photos. A good reminder to keep things in the right perspective and set piorities.

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  10. I was so happy that I saved the pictures on my computer! And...I've learned a great lesson on keeping things in perspective!!

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  11. Oh, Joan, this useless work is so easy to fall into. The computer is one of my biggest ways to spend/waste time. Thanks for your encouragement to make what we do count for good.

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  12. I think that even though the computer is a huge help, entertainment and a great way to share the word and connect with people, it can also come between us and what God really wants us to do. It is so important to keep our focus on God and follow His direction as we seek balance in our lives!


    Blessings, Joan

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  13. I can so identify with this. I don't know how many times I've done things on my computer when I should have been in bed or doing something more constructive to find out I've done something stupid. I know I spend way too much time on the computer. It does have a lot of allure. When I read the title of this post, the first thing I thought about was the old saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I'm not sure if that is 100% accurate, but it is something to think about. LOL
    Thank you for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Charlotte

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  14. Lol...yep, that's a road I don't want to travel down! I'm so glad that God has a nice way of reminding us to stay on track and get our priorities in the right order!


    Blessings, Joan

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