Too Busy For God?
Busy Lives
I wake up in the morning and read my devotional on my phone. Then, I wake up my daughter and get washed up. I wake my daughter up, again, and get dressed. Before I head downstairs, I wake my daughter up one more time and go down to have my coffee. While drinking my coffee, I work on my blog and, sometimes, log on to work on my day job. I make breakfast, we eat, and I hustle her to school and go to work. My day is super busy, then I pick her up, we do her activity or Bible study (sometimes both), get homework done, shower and go to bed. While in bed, I try to either read my Bible, commentaries, something, or watch training/Bible study videos. Buuuut, most of the time, I fall asleep in the middle of that.
That’s not just my life. I have friends who are even busier. On the weekends, we squeeze in church and the children’s ministry. Almost every day is the same. Even when I take a vacation day, it’s filled with things I have to get done. Even though I’m involved in Bible studies, I know that I’m missing on that quiet, private time in prayer. I worry that I’ve become too busy for God.
Bonding Time
The good news is that, since I’m working on this blog, I have to study the Bible in order to post about it. But, I don’t feel that I can study as much as I’d like. If I could, I would spend my day studying the Word and praying, but my reality is, I simply can’t. I’m waiting and praying for that day. 🙂
In the meantime, I’ve recognized that I’m not spending enough time speaking with God as I should. We are advised to pray without ceasing.
17 pray continually,
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NIV)
I don’t think we are supposed to never stop praying, but we are to speak to the Lord often. A lot more often than I do. Jesus would pray quite often.
16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Luke 5:16 (NIV)
In all of my busy-ness, I’m neglecting that alone time with God. If I don’t get my alone time with my daughter, I feel like I’ve missed out on something. That’s our bonding time. In the same way, I feel that prayer is my bonding time with the Lord. I pray first thing in the morning and right before bed. I say quick prayers through the day, but I need to get focused and take some deliberate time to find a quiet space and have that alone time.
What about you? Is your life so busy that you miss out on that important private time? Can you carve out five minutes as a start and have that alone time with God? If not, can you wake up five minutes earlier, when the house is quiet? Can you stay up five or ten minutes after everyone else has gone to bed?
You don’t have to force it. Sometimes, just being quiet and listening is all you need. I have done this, thinking nothing was going to happen, but I heard the Lord. I used what I heard to guide me.
New Plan
This is my new plan. Instead of the one or two minute morning prayer, I’m going to spend five minutes. If I have nothing else to say, I will be quiet and listen. I plan to eventually expand on that time. I’m also going to carve out time during the day. If I look at my schedule, I know I can find time to go in my room and listen to the Lord.
Let’s all try to find that quiet time. Start out with just five minutes and build up. Eventually, it will become second nature.
Have a blessed day.