Monday, November 17, 2008

Where Do You Get Your Refueling?

As I reflect over the past year, there is one thing I know. God has been doing some housekeeping. I've come to realize that as a believer in Christ, He only allows us to stay in one spot for a time and then He moves us forward. He is a progressive God. I know that in my own relationships, if they are not moving forward, they become stale and unproductive. That is not God's desire for us. If I don't care for stale relationships, then why would I expect the One who created our need for them to be satisfied with that either.

As a Mom, wife, and business owner, the demands on me are quite grand in size. Sometimes I feel like I am on this hamster wheel that is spinning faster and faster. At some point, I would not totally be surprised to find myself flying through the air with the greatest of ease wondering at what point and where I'm going to land. I say all that to say, that in the past, I've found it difficult to make my time with God a priority. Everything else seemed to take the lead. Let's face it, when there are little people in our faces with their screaming demands, it's hard not to tend to them first. I am not saying that their needs aren't important but there is balance within that. Perhaps, their desire for a second or third cup of chocolate milk could potentially wait for 10 minutes.

I heard once that you cannot give what you do not have. And it is true. I've found myself snippy and unsympathetic and all around yell-y when I'm totally drained emotionally. God is the source of all that we have. He is the one we need to go to, to get that refueling. It's like our car, it will not go anywhere if there is no gas in it. I need my time with God to refuel me for the day so that what I require to tend to everybody's needs is there in order to do it. Chocolate does help from time to time and I have used that occasionally for a speed boost. It is definitely not a replacement because nothing can fill us like God can. However, I do consider chocolate a gift from God which is just another example of His creativity and desire to bless us.

One of the things that I've had to clean up on is being purposeful in making time for my relationship with God. Being purposeful in not allowing all of life's distractions to change my focus off of God and onto them has been challenging some days. You just never know what life is going to throw from one day to the next. I've found that it has taken some discipline to change some of the ways I've done things in the past. However, the results have been amazing.

As I seek God out, He is there waiting to meet with me. I've found that as I've been obedient in that, I have this craving to know more and more. I just can't get enough. And when I turn on the praise and worship music, my soul just longs to be in this place of closeness with the Lord. I am so thankful that my relationship with God has changed this past year and continues to grow. I encourage you to be purposeful in finding that time for God. He has amazing things he wants to reveal to us that can only come when we are connected with Him.

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