Taking the Time

As I was driving my two "lil' bird-dogs" home from the Y this morning I suddenly had the thought about taking appropriate time for all things of life, and what does this look like. Somehow I must generate deeper thoughts post-workouts. :)

Anyways, I began to think about the time we take to spend with our children and teach them things, which led to the thought of taking "our" time with the Heavenly Father for Him to teach us things. So I began to ponder and I will take you through my musings.

When taking time for the Father we can either hear or read but in both the Father speaks, He speaks in the silence when we sit and pray for wisdom, and He loudly speaks through His words written by people who knew Jesus first hand and walked with Him on a daily basis. (which really just blows my mind, and then we get the privilege of sitting and reading their eye-witness account of what Jesus did, said and thought) Amazing to me.

I lately feel as though each time I open the word His words are so clear to me, maybe not in a "go and do this right" sort of way, but in a way that I can grasp ahold of a concept and throughout the day find ways that it applies to my daily life. And I often find myself shaking my head in amazement at the Lord and His ability to take the time and reach down into my life, day and issues and speak solutions to my soul.

Which lead me to the thought of, how often to we really take the time to HEAR our Father?

I feel like in the past few months I've really been seeking His words like mad because I've needed them like the air I breath. But throughout my life this has not always been the case (unfortunately so) but now that I am I recognize the beauty in simply sitting, seeking and waiting for His thoughts on you.

He friend, has lots and lots of thoughts about you and for you, you are precious and beautiful to Him, and He longs to speak with you and offer you words of daily instruction, encouragement and strength. He asked you to follow Him, and as you gingerly did so, He reminded you every step of the way that He was there to "prosper you and not harm you, all the while giving you a hope and a future." (Jer 29:11)

But these words are really just empty words on a page if we do not take God at His word and believe that He is who He says He is, and will do what says He will do.

Take any problem you might be facing today. Write it down. God already knows that struggle but it helps to write it down, and then ask Him for eyes that can see and ears that can hear for His answers. The answers will come, and as i wrote of yesterday, they may not be "sure, let me fix this right now..." but you WILL get answers. Prayerfully seek Him and you will find the rest and blessings He promises you.

And if you think for one moment that your problem might just be bigger than your neighbors and you are sitting there thinking that this is just something you are going to have to carry throughout your life because it's what you do... your wrong. Even if there is a burden God has asked to carry that feels heavier than another's load, by asking the Lord for help, He will provide you the strength to carry it for as long as it's needed, and in the end, you will minister to those along side of you as a result of your strength in God rather than yourself.

Blessings come in all shapes and sizes and to comprehend His purposes for our "problems" is something we cannot do.

Taking it back to my first comparison, the time we spend with our children, they do not always know the purposes of our "play time lessons" but when they are 15,20 and 35 we pray that the basis and valuable life lessons we teach them will in make more sense, and make them better people. An example might be this, you force your child to carry their own school bag because it's a good thing to know how to do, and Mom's and Dad's are not always around to the carrying for them. As a result, they learn a little Independence, and might pass that on to their fellow classmates. Encouraging them to be stronger, better individuals.

Life lessons are hard, whether your 5 or 50, lessons are difficult to learn, swallow and accept.

But in the end we are better people because we took the time to learn, and were patient during our lessons, making sure to take in all the teacher had to say, and then, accepting the challenges as opportunities to grow and be more like the teacher.

Wherever you are at in your lesson, rest in the fact that Christ is a patient teacher, and helpful friend, and confident who will never leave you nor forsake you, and you are not only safe during those difficult times, you are absolutely held.

So take the time, learn and grow. Friends, it's the best time you'll ever take, and I am right there with you.