Romans 12:1 (New International Version)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
Seems like I'm not alone in what I'm talking about today. I'm having trouble with my feelings about how I spend quiet time with God. HisGirl posted a beautiful devotional on the subject today.
Sometimes when I try to have my quiet time, I don't feel it like I think I'm supposed to feel it. I don't always get that tingly feeling all over that just makes me know without a shadow of a doubt that my Lord is right there enveloping me in His presence. There are many times when I do feel that way, but not always to be sure. I don't know why this is.
Maybe the reason it's not always the same has to do with where my focus is. Maybe it's because I let the little things (and some big things) in my life get to me. Maybe it's because there is a sin getting in the way between me and God. I'm sure that is the problem in some instances. But then there are times when I cannot for the life of me figure out what is going on with me that would keep me from feeling His presence stronger.
So maybe there is another reason that my quiet time isn't always what it should be. Could it be that it is just part of being human? Could it be that just maybe God means for it to be that way for us? Could it be that were we to experience the "tingly all over teary eyed blow me away" feeling every time that we would take it for granted? Maybe we wouldn't appreciate those amazing encounters if we had them every day.
God honors our sacrifices and isn't a sacrifice something we don't want to do? His Word tells us that when we offer up ourselves as living sacrifices, it is a spiritual act of worship. So then if we are offering ourselves up to Him even when we don't feel it or feel like it, could it be that those times are even more precious to our loving Father?
As I understand it, our quiet time with God should be not just for us, but for Him too. If we were just there to get that awesome feeling from Him, wouldn't that be selfish? But we're not there just for that purpose. If we were, then we wouldn't talk about the times where the Lord's presence isn't so evident to us.
So maybe we should stop being so hard on ourselves. Maybe we should stop listening to the devil when he tells us that what we're doing isn't good enough. Maybe we should listen to our heavenly Father when He tells us what precious princesses we are to Him.
Thank You Father for making my quiet time today so amazing. Thank You for allowing me to have this quiet time with You and for allowing me to share this with others. Please Lord help us all to see ourselves as you see us. I pray this in the name of Your Son Jesus, amen.
It's been a year!
4 years ago
4 comments:
Ah, the age old problem! Who among us hasn't struggled with this? One thing I learned a while back was that a BIG part of my struggle was/is satan. He doesn't want me to spend time in fellowship with my Savior, and he will do whatever he can to distract me, fill my time with "emergencies" or things that SEEM urgent at the moment, etc. He uses busyness as a primary weapon against me because he knows my time with God is powerful and thus is a threat to him. Then he uses guilt about not having spent time with the Lord to make me feel even worse. I long for the day our faith will be made sight and we will see Him face to face. Then there will be no distractions, and our worship will be complete.
Until then, keep on keepin' on. Whatever time you can give to the Lord is good!! Great post.
Suzanne,
You know we all struggle with this from time to time. Satan does love to distract and there is a battle over our minds. Our emotions can be manipulated by Satan so easily.
I pray that "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7 Amen.
Suzanne, I have found that the more I "make" myself have a quiet time the worse it is. I've tried not to make it a certain time, or a certain place etc. God speaks to us all day, if we will only listen. That seems to be my biggest problem, I miss so much of Him because I am not paying attention.
You are growing closer to the Lord every day and it is such a blast to watch.
Love ya,
Sheryl
i think that though it's true- if we try to force God to speak to us in a certain way, it becomes a struggle- we have to be looking and watching throughout the day.
but i think that it's important to have a time everyday when we sit with Him and start our day off right. for me, it makes the chances of me hearing him the rest of the day even more likely- because my heart is 'tuned'
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