Friday, January 29, 2010

Too Busy for God?

Wednesdays are chapel days at my school.  Last Wednesday, my friends and I walked into the auditorium to find the floor littered with newspapers and magazines.  Loud music blared from the speakers as the praise team played hectic guitar and drum solos.  Phones were ringing.  A strobe light flashed by the doorway.  And on top of it all, our Bible teacher was sitting up front and giving the lesson like nothing was wrong. 

You might have been able to predict this already, but the lesson was about how to recognize distractions in your life that can take your focus away from God. 

I think that this is a very important topic to discuss and remember when you are trying to improve your walk with the Lord.  It can be so easy to become distracted while living your life that you don't remember to sit down and worship Him in peace.

We live in a world that is full of distractions: cell phones, movies, Facebook, Twitter, homework, stress, music, friends, heartache... 

How many times have you thought to yourself, "I should pray more often than I do... but I'm just so busy."?  Surely I'm not the only one who has done this.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God."  I think He made Himself pretty clear here.

We were not meant to rush, rush, rush through our entire lives without continually stopping to take a break and focus on the Lord.  He is our Creator.  He made us to glorify Him.  In the beginning of time, when the Lord gave us a Sabbath day, His purpose was to give us a day where we could rest and worship Him for more than a few spare minutes before bed.

I heard somewhere that Martin Luther said that he usually prayed for an hour a day, but if he knew ahead of time that he was going to have a busy or stressful day, he started off his morning with three solid hours of prayer.  What an inspiration that is.  I feel proud of myself if I can fit in twenty minutes of solid, uninterrupted prayer in a single day... and you know, I even feel proud if I can squeeze in ten minutes.

When you sit in silence, God reveals so many things to you that you do not hear when your mind is full of worries and stress and chaos.  When you are still, your relationship expands to new heights that you could not comprehend unless you fully experience for it yourself. 

Even when you are rushing around, lost in the craziness of your life, you can be still.  Turn off the radio in your car.  Sit in the silence and listen to God and hear what He has to say.  Let Him speak to your heart, and you speak to Him as well.

I encourage you to set aside some God-time each day.  Make this a time where you turn off your computer, silence your cell phone, and go into a quiet room and shut the door.  Erase every distraction from your life and focus entirely on God.  Praise Him with every stitch of your heart, every ounce of your being.  He is worth every moment of your existence... not a meager few minutes each day.

Zechariah 2:13
"Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."

Psalm 37:7
"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him."

Exodus 14:14
"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." 

6 comments:

  1. I started writing a comment about this, but then I remembered that I was basically just re-writing a blog entry I wrote back in July 2009. I figured I'd save the time and just give a link instead.

    http://honeylissabee.com/2009/07/06/moutain-perspectives/

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  2. That's really good. I'm so glad you wrote this because I've been busy lately (also guilty for not spending much time with God).

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  3. That's awesome Emily:) Thanks for posting this! It's really an inspiration to put everything aside and spend some one on one time with God every day. =)

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  4. This is so important to remember! I wrote a post about busyness (When to Say "No") on my blog a few weeks ago. We so often pack our schedules so full we don't have any time for God. In Mark 1:35-38, Jesus turned down something that would make him too busy to spend time with God. I thought if Jesus can't do everything, I certainly can't! Once again, great post, Emily!

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  5. This is great! I am guilty of this a lot...especially when I am having a bad week streek(like now) and dont want to do anything. Please pray for me when/if you can, please. Im really struggling.

    Check out my poem "Why?!" It is on the home page as of now, but it is under the title "In Your Arms" if you go through our profile to get to it. Please feel free to message me or post a comment of post something on our profile. Hope you read it.
    This is for ANYONE who wants to read.
    Lindsey ;)

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  6. I totally ageee

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