Archives For Time with God

A cure is not what I need

May 22, 2012

They say time is money, but that’s not true. Time is life.

God gives us time. And who has time for God
(Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts p64) 

My soul is like teflon to this message. I strive and scheme, filling my heart and mind with plans and ponderings about how to make things better. Yet the better I seek may in fact be the present I already have in Christ.

As I seek ways to be happier, more content, less at the mercy of serotonin and synapses, I have filled my ‘to-do’ list with ever more stuff that only has potential to be helpful. In pursuing my list of possible cures I’ve forsaken some of what has proven to be essential in the past. I try to go faster, to make more happen, only to crash and burn. Weakness forces me to stop, to simply be for a while.

God did not call me to cure my life but to live it. To live it in Him, giving thanks for grace.

Gifts I have noticed recently (#910 – #933):

910) The quiet joy of writing with pen on paper.
911) Church bells ringing.
912) A good, long night’s sleep.
913) It was an old pair of jeans I ripped when I slipped over and hurt my knee.
914) Permanent reminder to seek joy by thanking God.
915) Tradesmen to fix the hash I made of our bathroom.
916) New bath installed, finally!
917) Honest discussions about the darkness that haunts me.
918) An understanding boss.
919) Slowing down to think thankfully.
920) Tiredness beckoning me to sleep.
921) The doctor was right and my cynicism was wrong.
922) Chatting to Mum and Dad on the phone.
923) My brother getting the job he wanted.
924) The end of my work week.
925) A friend being told, “it isn’t cancer”
926) Children all tucked warm in their beds on a cold stormy night.
927) Warm water on my skin on a cold morning.
928) A new TV.
929) A rabbit hopping along George street!!
930) City lights sparkling like the frost on the footpath.
931) Pink sunrise reflected in frozen puddles.
932) Only slipping once on the ice.
933) Hockey stick, violin and a shoebox house careless on a bedroom floor – instruments of an active child’s living.

holy experience

In Eucharisteo
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Thunder and whispers

March 23, 2012

It is 5 minute Friday in which I write for five short minutes, fight my urge to edit and re-write the whole thing and just post whatever I’ve got.

The word this week is Loud.

Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
(Psalm 42:7 ESV)

Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.
(Exodus 19:19 ESV)

I hate loud noises, especially sudden ones. I swore at the phone this evening when it rang loudly beside me, giving me a fright. I covet the peaceful quietness once everyone has gone to bed and the TV is off. To read, to think, to just be.

My aversion to loudness causes me to get stressed when multiple people talk at once. I cannot follow what is being said, get confused and flustered.

God isn’t like that. He can follow billions of conversations all at once without stress. He can cope just fine with loudness or with silence. He can communicate through a thunder storm or a torrent of water. He can make Himself known without any sound at all.

He condescends to meet me in my weakness, stopping me in my complaining to whisper, “It is not about you – this life you have, all you are – it is about Me, about My Son. About Jesus.”

Stop

It is odd how thinking about loudness reminded me of what He quietly spoke years ago.

And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
(1 Kings 19:12-13 ESV)

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Photo of waterfall: Depositphotos

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Stumbling is better than not trying

August 15, 2011

There are some who consider making a regular ‘quiet time’ habit to be tantamount to legalism.

I am far from being legalistic – I am too lazy! But I would argue that not making a regular habit of prayer and Bible reading is effectively spiritual suicide. Going even a couple of days without spending some time reading from the Bible and honestly praying results in me becoming noticeably more worldly and less Christ-focussed.

As I spend a longer period of time not praying as Jesus taught us, my desire to do so decreases, along with my motivation to read the Bible. My thoughts are less taken up with God and more with my own anxious concerns.

I’m not a good example:

Don’t get the impression that I spend hours on my knees praying, read ten chapters of the Bible a day and memorize entire gospels. Often my time with God is a couple of chapters read distractedly while feeding breakfast to myself and one or more children. My prayers look strangely like I am ‘resting my eyes’ (sleeping!) and are fragmented by random stray thoughts.

To remind myself to pray I have photos of people I want to pray for on my bookmarks in my Bible – simple, but it really helps ensure I pray.

And what I have found is that even an interrupted, somewhat sleepy time dedicated to seeking God and His will really does make a difference. A difference which is very noticeable if those times are not happening.

Do you have any strategies for ensuring you get time with God?

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Image of open Bible: iStockphoto

In Simple faith
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Sunlit sushi

June 1, 2011

Weak autumn sun, low in the sky, illuminates minute insects and dust into a shimmering haze.

It is a bit too chilly to be comfortable out here, but my body and soul need the sunshine. So a simple lunch of sushi with a mug of tea sitting quietly in a courtyard outside my work is just the ticket. Away from the flickering monitors under fluorescent tubes.

Traffic, merely 20 metres from me, is muffled by buildings. For a brief 20 minutes I’ve escaped the busy working world. The time to return will soon arrive but for now I’m allowed to retreat.

Is this not how we are called to live – in the world but not of the world?

For a portion of each day we live, work, relax, and play alongside those who are not in the kingdom of God. This is what we are called to, this is the way things are. Yet we are also called to take some time away from that, time to be with the King. Not to avoid the world, time with Jesus strengthens us to return to the world. More so than sunlight on my skin, I need His holy light on my soul and fellowship in my heart.

Like sitting outside on a cool autumn day, I’m not always comfortable coming to God. But I need these times – spent breathing in purity and light, putting myself into an uncomfortable, healthy space instead of the unhealthy spaces we create for ourselves.

In your calling today, find space and time to renew your life in Christ – renewal and refreshment is better than escapism.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
(John 17:14-21 ESV)

Gifts I have noticed this week (#438 – #445):

438) Playing ‘Mastermind’ with Iona.
439) Cleaning up the kids’ room while stuck on ‘hold’ for 90 minutes.
440) An evening of undivided attention to my son when our internet connection was broken.
441) A sermon on  Psalm 103 showing that praise and thanksgiving is what counts most for eternity.
442) Not needing a modem or ISP to connect with God or other people.
443) Kids voices and shouts mingling with waves on the beach.
444) Communities caring for their public spaces.
445) A darkened path, knowing only that God walks with me on it.

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Image of sushi: Mike McArthur

In Eucharisteo
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Interpreting the times

May 22, 2011

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:36-37 ESV)

It is rare nowadays to find anyone able to proclaim the correct Biblical interpretation of current events.

Peter does so magnificently in Acts 2:22-41, and given his track record I would argue that it is spending 40 days in fellowship with the risen Son of God and in prayer that gave him the background understanding to be able to do this.

It is good to know what is going on in the world but without an ongoing, deep fellowship with Jesus through the Bible and prayer it will all lead me to emptiness and despair.

(I pre-wrote this about a month ago but it now seems particularly relevant!)

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Image of newspaper: iStockphoto

In Simple faith ,
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