Most people would probably say that God directs their life, or fate, or “I” direct my own life, etc. But in practice, it isn’t true.
For most people, their phone directs much of their lives. It is always disruptively buzzing and beeping and pushing information in front of their faces. And when it’s not, they are obsessively checking it (every 4 minutes on average, actually) to see what’s next. Their phone is perpetually telling them what somebody else has said or done, then they react to it. Their day is one long string of reactions to constantly distracting stimuli.
Even if they don’t think of it that way, or don’t intend it, that is typically what happens anyway. We don’t mean to spend the next 20 minutes on our phone (we were working on something else, on our way to somewhere else, etc.), we were just checking something real quick. Twenty minutes later we finally get back to what we were going to do.
Our phone directs too much of our life. And it makes our lives “busy” yet not meaningfully productive.
Instead, if you want to be more productive, let your daily todo list be your director (if you’ve created a thoughtful one).
Better still, the home may be the best director yet. What if we checked (i.e. looked around) our home every “four minutes” to see who wants to talk to me? Who needs my help? What needs doing? To find something to study or entertain me? Or something simply to delight in?
We all of a sudden find ourselves living a much better life in a much better home.
God whispers through our surroundings, which are most often the home. But His voice is easily drowned out by noise and distraction. In each idle moment, let us instead ask God what He wants us to do. Then, listen. Look around and see what he says. His answer is very often clear, obvious, and right in front of us.