Do you ever find yourself making excuses for not spending time with God? You’re not alone! I’m guilty of doing the same thing. This world demands a lot of our time and attention. Maybe you have more opportunities than you realize though!
Realization on the Road
I was driving down the highway, headed to work, after running around all morning. This is what my typical weekdays looked like when I was working outside of the home. I would leave the house at 7:30 with 3 kids in tow, drive 15 minutes to drop my older 2 off at school, then 15 minutes the other direction to drop my youngest off at Grandma’s for the day, and then another 30 minutes to work. The afternoon was the same thing – in reverse. 2 hours a day was a lot of time on the road for this small-town girl!
This was a busy season in my life juggling work, school and church activities, and adding a third kid to our family. I found myself struggling to make time to devote to spending with God. That morning, I turned down my radio as I was driving and just started talking aloud to Him. As I began, I realized it had been awhile since I genuinely prayed. I found myself making excuses as to why… “I just don’t have any time right now”, “I can’t wake up any earlier than I already do for devotions. I’m so tired in the mornings!”, etc. Then, I heard in my heart, “You have this”.
“You have this time in the car, just you and me, every morning.”
It turns out I didn’t need to spend this time cranking up the radio in order to avoid worrying about the events of the day. I didn’t need to complain about every reckless driver on the road. There was something so peaceful about just speaking my mind out loud to God – in the quiet privacy of the car, talking to him like I would a friend.
“You Have This. Can I see it?”
When God says, “You have this… why don’t you give it to me?”, it’s not a forceful, “hand it over!” It’s because He has something better in mind. It’s like when a kid gets a new toy for Christmas and he starts playing with it excitedly, but as the parent you see he’s using it wrong, and there’s so much more the toy is capable of. You would say to him, “Here, let me see it. Check this out!” You then show him the purpose the toy was created for. That’s what God can do with whatever we give to Him. He can take our ordinary moments in life, our stresses of the day, our worries and doubts, our joys, etc. and reveal something greater.
What moments do you have in your life — even amidst your busy seasons — that you can give to God? Is it time during your daily commute? Is it while you’re in the shower in the morning? Or while you’re out for a run or lifting weights? Do you have some “you time”, you could turn into “God time”? I guarantee you won’t regret it.
"The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth." Psalm 145:18
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In