In life, the future comes one day at a time. And in the kingdom of God, every day is important because it is a foundation and the stepping stone to another. God is interested in how you use your day. How you use your day is a reflection of how you spend your time, what you use it for and to which end. How you use your day is a reflection of your wisdom and what you treasure and value.
God is the one who made each day and He tailored it to showcase His glory. Every day is, therefore, the day of the Lord. Remember this: “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps 118: 24). Each day brings a new awareness and the declaration of the glory of God. The Bible says: “each day gushes out its message to the next, night by night whispering its knowledge to all” (Ps 19: 2, TPT). In other words, each day is telling, declaring, and revealing the glory, power, praise, and God’s majesty. There is no day that God will not be good. There is no day that God will not be glorious. There is no day that God will not be merciful. There is no day that God will not be kind. There is no day that God will not be God. He is the God of the day as well as the night. In fact, God’s word reveals that His mercies are new every morning, great is His faithfulness Lam 3: 22-23). There is the richness of God’s mercies, kindness, and faithfulness available as you wake up in the land of the living today. There is the deposit of His grace. The whole earth is filled with His glory every day. His goodness is abundant today. Hallelujah!
The devil does not make any day but he can destroy it. If you allow him, he can mess it up for you and make your life miserable. What you do at the beginning of the day—when you wake up—and the end of the day—when you retire to bed—is crucial to your success or failure. In this article, I want to show you how to set yourself up for success one day at a time.
“There is no day that God will not be good. There is no day that God will not be glorious. There is no day that God will not be merciful. There is no day that God will not be kind. There is no day that God will not be God.”
Start your day with God. Our God is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. It is important to reach out to Him right at the beginning of you. Don’t start your day in neutral. The time spent with God is never going to be a waste but a conservation of time. Spend time to pray, read the Bible, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. He created the day. He also owns it. When you commit your day to His hands, He will direct your steps. He knows where everything is and He will help you to experience Godspeed. He knows everyone and He can use them for you. Starting your day with the Lord means that you are not going to take it for granted or give any place to the devil. It also means you will seek to do what God wants and to His glory.
Have a goal to accomplish a part of your purpose: We receive God’s agenda of what He wants done from the place of prayer. That means you can ask God what He wants done today and cooperate with Him so that you can do it with His strength. Sometimes, we go through the day doing our own thing, thinking our own thoughts, acting in our own way, and speaking in our own way without any regard for God’s agenda for the day. If you are a person of purpose, God should have a say in everything that will happen through you during the day. He must dictate your program. I believe one of the greatest questions you can ask God is: Lord, what do you want done today?
Recognize your most productive time of the day. We function differently and at different times of the day. You want to do what is most important to you when you are at your optimal. That means you have to have priorities. Some of us are at our optimal right early in the morning. While for others it is during the evening and late at night. You need to find out what works for you and then protect and jealously guard those times from interruption and distraction.
Build play into your day: It’s been said: “all work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” Find time to play. It is informal. There is a time not to take everything seriously. Some of us are so close to our problems that we cannot see any solutions in plain sight. Play frees your mind and promotes innovation and creativity. It helps you not to be rigid. It reduces tension and fosters collaboration. It forces joy and laughter from you. It brings pleasure.
Learn to prioritize: Know where your priorities lie and do everything to do something about it. A simple definition of priority is to keep the most important thing as the most important thing. That means that some things are clamoring for your attention but are not important. They may appear so, but when you look at everything from the scale of importance, they don’t match what is truly most important.
Starting your day with the Lord means that you are not going to take it for granted or give any place to the devil.
Break big tasks into smaller ones: We can become overwhelmed when we want to do everything at once. If you want to do a good job, you cannot do everything at once. See how you can break big tasks into smaller ones. Remember Rome was not built in a day but building blocks were erected one day at a time. To eat a big elephant, you must start with one bite at a time.
Don’t do too much: Some of us think that what makes us productive is doing too much per time. We think the more we do, the more productive we are. What I have learned is that successful people do one thing at a time but they do it well. They don’t try to do too much or too little, they do what is right with the time they have. Remember, busyness is not the same as being productive.
“Proper rest helps you to unwind.“
Start to finish: Many of us love to start lots of things as a result we have lots of projects on the go but don’t think about finishing what we have started. We must learn to start what we finish. Maybe the best thing you can do today is to look at some of the projects and decide if they are still important, if not, discard them but if yes create a plan to complete it. You may even find a way to delegate them.
Build rest into your day: Some of us are expending our energy with no strategies to replenish it. We don’t take the time to rest. Yet, resting helps us settle, and stress less. For some, they worry instead of resting. Resting helps you conserve your energy. It increases your focus and alertness. Proper rest helps you to unwind. Do you know what makes you relax? How do you usually unwind? We are told not to make any major decisions whenever we are tired. Better sleeping habits can help you with proper rest, boost your immune system, and increase your appetite.
Take time to reflect: Every one of us must make the time to reflect on how we do what we do daily. Is your strategy working? Is it the best one? Is there another one you can adopt? What are you learning in the process? Are you learning all you can about what you are doing? Are you doing the best that you can do?
“Enjoy the people around you, your family, coworkers, fellow believers. Notice what is around you and at the same time notice what should not be there.”
Take time to smell the coffee: Some of us are not taking our time to notice what is around us because we are too busy. One way to be productive is to slow down and take the time to enjoy the moment. Enjoy the people around you, your family, coworkers, fellow believers. Notice what is around you and at the same time notice what should not be there. Smell the roses. We must strive every day to pay attention to different things around us. It will make us last and help us to distress.
Update your mind: Each day has something to teach you. You must learn to read, listen to messages, and learn something every day. Learning helps to keep your mind active and young. You don’t know everything, so be informed to avoid ignorance, embarrassment, backwardness, and shame. You cannot master what you don’t learn. Learning is one of the characteristics of a productive mind. Be curious as that is the pathway to growth.
Count your blessings: Gratitude is a very important attitude to cultivate. Being grateful to God for the gift of life, love, friendships family, relationships, ability, productivity, capability, capacity, presence of mind, and even a sound mind to learn, think, and contribute is a great virtue. Nothing in life should be taken for granted even those challenging times because we can learn and grow through them. We must start and end our day with thanksgiving. In fact, we must convert our thanksgiving to thanksliving. We must appreciate God for who He is and what He has done.
