A man was driving down the road behind a large truck and noticed something strange. At every stoplight the truck driver jumped out of the cab and pounded the side of the truck with a baseball bat. After seeing this five or six times, his curiosity got the best of him. At the next light, he jumped out of his car and ran up to the driver who was pounding his truck.

He said, “Hey, fella, can I ask what in the world you’re doing?”

The truck driver looked at the man and said, “It’s like this. I have a one-ton truck and two tons of canaries in this truck. I have to keep one ton of birds up in the air at all times or this truck won’t move!”

Have you ever felt that way? Like you had more canaries than you could carry? I know I certainly have. There are so many needs and things to be done, and it seems there simply are not enough hours in a day nor days in the week to do everything we want to do. Every day I am reminded of the truth of the words of Christ when He said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37).

In the midst of this flurry of activity we need to remember that Jesus also said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Doing God’s work is always challenging, frequently demanding, and sometimes very difficult, but it is never impossible. Nor is it an exercise in futility.

God’s perfect plan for you and me doesn’t include our constantly having to keep a ton of birds in the air. There is always enough time to do God’s will. The key is learning to separate the good from the best and to focus our attention on doing what is best. This may involve letting go of some canaries, but it brings with it greater peace and increased impact for the cause of Christ.