My quiet time is something I look forward to. I go through periods of times where it is very difficult to maintain a quiet time though….One of those times is when I am traveling or visiting with family. I love spending time with my family. It is one of my favorite things. My children are grown, married and live out of state. When my husband and I get a chance to spend some time with them it is very special. We don’t get to make many memories with them anymore so when we get the opportunity it is a huge blessing.
With that being said, about three days in to our time together my spirit begins to grow weary….
The soul needs its creator to survive… without Him we are empty. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says:
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
The time we spend with Him in prayer and in His word quenches our thirst and gives us the necessary energy, attitude and strength we need. Vacationing or visiting with family or friends is special and we tend not to maintain portions of our daily routine.
For me this includes my quiet time.
My husband is a morning person and he is always up before everyone else. He gets this time every morning all to himself. He uses it to exercise and spend time in God’s word. By the time my body decides it is time to wake up everyone else is waking up too. Therefore, when I am on vacation my quiet time suffers.
It comes down to priorities.
The same thing happens when it comes to our everyday lives. I have made a thousand excuses about why I’m too busy or tired. The bottom line is this… if I really wanted to spend time with God I would.
Why don’t I?
The simple answer is rebelliousness. That sounds harsh. Maybe you really want to but you have three small children or you are working 70 hours a week or maybe you are a single mom trying to hold everything together. The list is endless. There have been many times in my life where I have had really valid reasons as to why I was not consistent with my quiet time. If I were honest though…really honest…when there is something I want to do, I find a way to make it happen. This is not meant to bring shame.
God knows where you are in your heart and He knows what is going on in your life. He knows it before you know it.
So how do we get to a place where our quiet time is something we desire instead of something we check off a list? Ask yourself, is spending time with God something I get excited about or is it something I try to fit into my life? A pastor explained it in a way that put it into perspective for me: Imagine your husband brings you flowers and when you ask why he did this, he tells you it is because it is expected of him… When my husband buys me flowers, I want him to do it because he was thinking about me and wanted to do something special.
I don’t want to spend time with my husband because he feels obligated to do so. I want him to want to spend time with me. That is what being in a relationship is about. There are other aspects but at the crux of any relationship is the desire to be together, to have a shared experience and to know each other.
That’s what God wants from us.
If this does not point to His goodness I don’t know what does. He wants people who DON’T want Him back. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all else.” Romans 3:12 says, “All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
Before I can be consistent with my time with God I need to make Him a priority. In order for Him to be a priority in my life I have to have a desire to spend time with Him. Desire is the answer to experiencing a deeper relationship with God.
Easier said than done you say! Not really, because it is God who gives that desire for Himself. All I need to do is ask for it. James 4:8 says, Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you…. Matthew 7:7 says,
Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
Unrepentant sin may be keeping you from experiencing all that God has for you. Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.
The goal is not to have a perfect record in regards to spending time with God. The goal is to have a heart that is sold out to God every time you come to Him. He is deserving and longs for you to sit at His feet.
