-Wakeup: 6am.
-6:15 Devotions.
- Run at 7. shower at 8.
-off to work by 8:30.
-12:00 Lunch.
-5pm clock out.
-5:30 pick up kids (or dinner)
-6pm eat.
-7 till 8:45 watch tv
-9 brush teeth
-10pm bed.
So...here is a "schedule." A plan for a day. I'm sure you have one that looks similar, or much different depending on if you have children, or a family. It's a fine schedule and most likely, you are quite content, (for the most part) with how your days go. At the end of the day there is not too much to complain about, you get paid, you feed yourself and your family well enough, you get time to rest on the weekends. But yet, I still can't help but feeling like something is missing...
You may feel this way too, it sort of comes with little twinges of sadness that your not sure where they come from and why, and a feeling like you are "missing something." Not quite empty, but just a little void. Like, your staring out a window at a beautiful sunshine day, but you are anticipating the clouds that might roll in later. That sort of feeling. I've been there so I'm not really having any trouble articulating what I want to communicate. I spent many many days feeling just this way. And I was not very happy in this place.
Something WAS missing.
Let me ask you this...when you make your plan for the day, do you ask the LORD what He would want you to do and accomplish in and through your day? I mean, the time that you call discretionary, is it really discretionary? Not that you don't ever relax, because God wants you to rest also! But when you say "Lord, will you help me to organize my day in such a way that brings you the most glory, and uses the gifts and abilities you have given me to use the schedule that you see best for me? That best suits me to do your work...for your glory? It's AMAZING what happens when all of a sudden you start to look at your day as more than just "another day." More than just Tuesday or Friday. It's God's day, God's schedule. For you must know friends, HE does see what we cannot. And You can be sure He does have a day plan for you that works best for you, and glorifies Him the most. Our lives are His as Christians. We accept this right? But our days? Our every little minute by minute plan? Is that a little too much for you to consider? Well, it's not meant to be a thought that stresses you, because the very reason I am bringing this up is that you will have less stress in your day! God can organize things in such way that just works better. BUT...we have to ASK Him first. We have to see what He wants us to do, and when He wants us to do it. So you say you have "no other time to run but at 7am?" Ask Him if this is how HE wants you to spend your 7am hour. Perhaps He would rather have you do something else for Him at that time and then He will give you a hour and 1/2 at a different time rather than a rushed hour long run before work! Work is non-negotiable, we know that, but how about those 10 minutes that you sit idle at your desk? Or perhaps your rather idle the entire day? Use your work time to bring Him glory as well! Let me just stop and say WHY it is we do this friends...why we are so focused on bring Him glory, why we are so blessed to walk through a day in His strength, and His direction/guidance... We are blessed to do this because He gave up everything for us on the cross...then He so graciously sent His Holy Spirit here to guide us in all we do. We forfeit such wonderful direction when we do things in our strength rather than tapping into the all-knowing discernment of the Spirit. He can even help you make the right food choices in a day! Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever prayed this? "Lord, help me to make food choices today that honor you, and bless this body that you have made your home...that I will crave the right things, and that you will tell me when it's OK to splurge on a treat, and when you want me to eat a healthier thing?" HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT THIS WAY FRIENDS? It's transformational when we start to consider that all we do, every little thing, MATTERS TO GOD. And that He has a plan for you for ever moment of your day? So the next time you really just feel like crashing on the couch, ask the Lord? "Lord, do you think that resting right now is the best thing for me? And if it's not, would you give the energy to get up and accomplish what it is you want me to do for you?" He is not a slave driver. He will tell you to do what He knows is best for you. Even better than you know yourself. It's a radical way of thinking I know, but I would imagine that as you spend your days in a whole new way, living out a "Spirit led day" you will begin to be more satisfied, better rested, more well fed, and with more peace than if you tried to walk around your day blind. For when we make our plans, and commit them to the Lord by being in the center of His will, our plans WILL succeed. Because it will not be our personal success, but His. And He is all about making us succeed in His strength. We only need to know this: In order to hear Him, we need to be sensitive to Him, and in order to be sensitive to Him, we have to know Him...and how do we really know someone? BY SPENDING GOOD, QUALITY TIME WITH THEM. So spend your time with Him each day....and watch as He makes your day unfold in such a way that does not leave you feeling empty, unproductive or as though you have missed something...but rather you feel this: This was a good day, this was a day that the Lord Made! This was God centered day, that left me feeling as though I did something that prospered not just my life, but others life, because when you start to focus on His plans for you, you see all the little opportunities in each day that He has for you to minister to others. When we plan our days by our own desires, we always tend to factor out OTHERS. We only plan for us. This is not God's design. We were formed, placed and led to be ministers of His word, and His word constantly speaks of how we are to love others in actions, words and truth. SO I challenge you, consider your days my friends. Consider your time. This is not a guilt trip, this is a gift, and gift of a new though process that causes us to in the end, be living a more fulfilling, more joyful, more peaceful, more FILLED (Spirit filled) life. And I for one, want more of this, less of me, more of Him, = joy, peace, and contentment. yes please. I'll have some more of that.
Thank you Lord. You are so good to us to show us your loving kindness in the form of directions for our day. The truth that you even care of us, and our mindful of us causes me to be so humbled. The fact that you take the time to speak to us??? That is amazing. The God who LITERALLY formed the moon and the stars, forms our days (if we invite Him to do so) and that leaves me speechless. THANK YOU LORD!!!! AMEN!!!!!!!!!!
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