Playoffs and Pushing God Away

You've worked for so, so long to get to this point. You put in more practice than your opponents, worked harder, and wanted it more. All those days of twice daily practices and the special diets have paid off; you've made the playoffs. All you have to do is finish this up with your full, undivided effort, and then everything will be great. You'll have so much time to focus on God and you'll be able to get to everything you've been intending to the whole season. You'll finally read that book your parents gave you, catch up on the study you claim to have done already, and you'll pray more often for problems. If I just finish up this little thing here, then I'll give God all the attention he wants.

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" -- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance, All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. -- James 4:13-17

It's a weird dichotomy when we feel like God has propelled us into a certain situation, but we feel like we need to put him aside to accomplish the goals we've given us. We may feel God has called us to sport, work, or any other activity, but right now it's just too stressful and tough to pray, read the word, or commune with believers. It's fine; I'll just put it off for a little bit, get the work done, and then I'll have plenty of time to focus on God again. What sort of standard does this set for our future?

1. We're falling into a habit of the world now, God later. Everyone has their own personal way of communing with God. Some pray constantly, some fast for wisdom, some study the word for revelations, etc. That doesn't mean that when push comes to shove, it's OK to put God off for a bit. Our love for God should be so powerful that it shouldn't even be a choice, and every time we make that choice against God, we're letting sin take hold.
2. We're pushing God out of our world. In Acts, God says that his people did everything together in the Lord. God gave Adam work to do in order to glorify God. We should be confident that God has given us the work in front of us and we don't need to push him out. God doesn't just want the private time when we can afford it; he wants our lunch breaks, our 3:00 meeting, our family dinners, and our 4th quarters. Don't push God away; allow him to take the reins in the hard times and let him show you and everyone else his plan and power.
3. We're trying to accomplish goals in order to earn time with God. Deep down we feel like we have to get this work done so that we can be guilt and conscious free when we come to God. God does not call the proud, the accomplished, and the strong. God wants you to come to him weak, humble, and empty so that he can fill you with himself. He wants to take care of the hard times, not just the easy ones.

When you get to the playoffs of life, don't push God out. Don't just wait for tomorrow for God; you don't know what's going to happen today. Let God rule today and let him worry about what will happen tomorrow too.