Time management. Time pressure. Time running out. Time to wear all the hats. Man, I hear dads talk a lot about how they don’t have enough time. Indeed, time can feel like it’s racing. To-do lists. Meetings. Games. Practices. Appointments. The occasional emergency. Funny though, time doesn’t move any faster than it did 1,000 years ago. We just try to cram more into it than most of our ancestors. Rather than move at the speed of the sun and moon, we now move at the speed of social media and news cycles. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5:15-16 that we should, “look carefully” how we walk. He goes on to say we should be “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” The days are evil? One word I’d love to convince you to remove from your time jargon: manage. Don’t manage time. Invest it. Put it where it will reap the biggest reward.

Dear friend and Pastor Jonathan Hayashi shares with us how to glorify God through your failures. He writes, the great evangelist D.L. Moody was once confronted by a woman who said she didn’t like his method of evangelism. D. L. Moody said, “I don’t particularly like my method either. What’s yours?” The woman said, “I don’t have one.” To which D.L. Moody replied, “Then I like mine better!” There are many methods for sharing the faith. Not sharing your faith is a bad method! I love that Hayashi shows us an often overlooked way to share our faith—through our trials. Learn how to glorify God through your failures.

1. “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” – Douglas Adams

2. “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau

3. “Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” – Zig Ziglar

4. “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln

Investing Time. Look at your calendar and ask yourself this question, “Where in my life am I spending time and where am I investing it? What spots on my calendar reflect a good return on my time invested, and which items represent time wasted?” If you’re looking to maximize your return on time invested, look for the things you do that last for eternity. Some things that may fit this description: loving your wife, leading your children, sharing the gospel with others, and reading God’s Word. What else can you think of that lives beyond your life? That’s high ROI stuff.

Make it a great week,

Kent Evans
Author of the The Manhood Journey, co-founder of Manhood Journey and Father On Purpose.

P.S. Was this Mountain Monday helpful? Tell me if you love it, hate it, or if there’s something you’d like in the next one.

Forward this to a dad you know who needs some encouragement.