The hard truth

Monday, August 23, 2021



 
“Tell me the hard truth,” my friend asked. She wanted to know how in the world I was keeping up with all the Bible reading we have assigned at church and personally (One Year Bible, Bible study). I thought, “what an amazingly honest question.” I appreciate the spirit of the question too. 

I’ve always believed we are not supposed to be secret agents for Jesus. We need to share what we know so we can encourage one another. Her question reminded me of one I asked 12 years ago. We took an airplane trip with our firstborn when he was 6 months old. 

When we got to our destination, we were in a place where we could have conversations with a lot of people we did not know. The folks were friendly and wise. My question to one of the ladies was, “how was your devotional time when your kids were little?” She kindly looked at our young family as if she was thinking about her own. She said, “I prayed a lot. I remember praying for hours while I was rocking my babies to sleep. It was time well spent. I still treasure it.” 

 That encouraging answer never left me. I found out that it could be done. Time with God would be different but I could still connect with Him. I just had to adapt to my new season of life. 

 My friend and I were texting. My answers are often (okay, always) long so I recorded an audio message. I started with “in full transparency,” and I told her about my current life. I told her I sympathize with the challenges we all face when it comes to fitting in all the Bible reading and studying we choose to do. 

Still, God is calling us to pursue Him. He knows we have family and professional responsibilities. He understands each barrier that stands between us and the knowledge of the Holy. What do we do? I decided to take a practical look at my schedule. 

Once my family and professional responsibilities were accounted for I still had downtime. Video streaming usually occupies my down time. There is nothing wrong with that use of down time except when it stands between me and God. So I surrendered my downtime to God. 

I use it to do extra Bible reading, praying, and meditating in the word of God. I know I can stream videos some other time. Finding time to daily meet with God is more important, more fulfilling. No matter how busy we are, we can always find time to spend with God. He has all the wisdom we need to be the people God called us to be. We need to make sure nothing is stopping us from connecting with God who created us. 

Today, I am encouraging you to tell yourself the hard truth about your time management. Can you redirect downtime towards pursuing God?