“Doing it all” isn’t biblical. The world says we must do it all, but God says we must do only what he gives us to do. (We’ll talk more about this later in the book.) This means abandoning the never-ending need to please.

My prayer is that as you read this book you will learn to let go of busy and take up your purpose. Doing the right thing is far more energizing than simply doing anything and everything. We only have one life and this life is too important to waste by being busy.

select capable men from all the people — men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain — and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load l

Self-medicating might also take the form of obsessive exercise, too many hours on social media, or watching a lot of television instead of getting much-needed sleep.

But if we find that our habits are directly related to stressful situations in our lives, and that they are not renewing or restoring us, then we need to recognize those choices as a warning sign of busyness. We need to ask ourselves if escaping reality just seems like an easier choice than reducing our to-do list.

In the Bible, we often see that Jesus is busy doing the work his Father sent him to do, living out his calling every day. But despite his very busy schedule, Jesus is undeterred from daily reconnecting with God. He leaves cities with people unhealed, prayers unprayed, and work undone all so he can spend time with God.