Read: Ps 27:4-5 “…There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” - Prov 18:24
Jesus Christ revealed Himself to me during a meeting of the Baptist Student Union on the campus of our local college when I was 18 years old. I loved to spend time with Him in prayer, studying His Word and attending Bible studies and worship services. Each week, I filled my days with more and more of Him. Then, I got married and three weeks later conceived my first son, Michael. After nine months of morning sickness, and nine more months of sleepless nights, I conceived my second child, my daughter Julia. Eighteen months later, I repeated the process for my third child and second son, Daniel.
I love being a mommy. I enjoyed playing with my children. I filled each day with teaching them their alphabet, shapes and colors, as well as to recognize the world all around them. They were a blank slate, ready for me to introduce them to life. I wrote songs for them and taught them praise songs, as I serenaded them with my guitar. Each day was filled with new adventures and new learning experiences. However, as they each went off to school, one right after the other, I am the one who cried. I felt at lose ends. I had no purpose or direction for my time. So, I cried out to God for guidance.
I felt led to take a notebook and to sit quietly in the middle of our king-sized bed. I started writing whatever came to my mind…grocery lists, to do lists, reminder lists, lists of people I needed to forgive, and lists of those of whom I needed to ask forgiveness. The various lists went on and on without end. Hour after hour, I sat with no radio, no books, no Bible, no phone, no food, no guitar, and no finger nail polish!!! I just sat and wrote, emptying everything in my mind out on the pages of my journal. I did this for days on end, until I finally realized that there was nothing left, except me and God.
Through this experience, God showed me that when we allow the pressures and distractions of life to monopolize our attention, we run at full speed all day and then fall into an exhausted sleep each night, without ever spending quality time with our Father. Then, the next day our mind refills with clutter and complications and we get pulled in too many directions at once. We lack depth in our thoughts and actions. God’s voice cannot compete with our preoccupations nor can it penetrate our awareness, because the clutter is too overpowering and we are not listening for His voice. Only as we deliberately enter the recesses within our soul and conquer our cluttered thoughts, can we ever hope to obtain a deeper intimacy with Him (Ephesians 3:16-19).
Over the years, as I aged and my children started having children, my leisure time increased. I no longer scurry around behind the patter of little feet, but I spend more time sitting at Jesus’ feet. I have more time to stay in tune to His replies, since I no longer race around in tune to children’s cries. I still serve as a pastor’s wife with all the responsibilities accompanying that title, but I reserve my personal time for Him alone. My hearing of His directives improves as I sit quietly and praise Him as the great “I am.” Then I follow His will as I pray for specific people, care for my husband and home, visit someone in need, or mentor another lost soul.
A fulfilled Christian life comes only under the guidance of the Spirit of God. Achieving this status takes time, effort and commitment. He truly is a friend that sticks closer than a brother, a refuge in the storm, and our comforter and guide. I would not exchange one day of my lifetime of moments with our Savior and Lord. He never leaves me and never forsakes me. He is all I need, want or seek after.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, never let us fail to hear Your voice as we wait on You. Obtain our undivided attention. Help us to simplify our life by getting rid of the inner clutter first, and then by ridding our home and office of everything that is unnecessary. Help us to abide in the Vine, and to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us moment-by-moment throughout the day and night. Thought For The Day:
Only thoughts and actions, which are totally Spirit-led, will bear any fruit for the kingdom of God.
