Finding time
6 January 2020
By Phil O'D
I don't know about you but I constantly feel that I lose track of God when the seasons of life change. I look back and think, "I was so much closer to God in that last season than I am now. I'm just too busy to find the time."
My season of life changed two years ago with the birth of my firstborn, and then six months ago - when I had just started to get my groove back - my second child was born.
With my life changing and feeling my routines floundering, God gave me some wisdom that helped me. I've summarised it into just three points because, if you're reading a blog about being busy, I assume you don't have time for any more than that!
Top 3 tips.
(Scroll to location)
1. Don’t live in the past.
We constantly look back and comment to ourselves about how much better we were doing spiritually, back... whenever it was. While sometimes this is true, often it is not.
If you have ever played a computer game you will know that the early levels are easy and as you continue they get harder. If you compare yourself now to what you were like early in the game then of course you were doing well back then. But you have grown and matured in faith and life.
Your life is very different and so your faith should be too.
We should learn the lessons from our past, but we shouldn't live there.
2. Find your rhythm with God.
Right now you might not have as much time available as you used to. Some seasons you have the luxury of an hour with God before anyone else in the house is awake. In other seasons, you might be chewing your lunch over with Him.
For us at the moment with two small kids, we don't have large blocks of time. So alongside going to church on a Sunday, we choose to prioritize two things: Little Pieces and Festivals.
Little Pieces:
This consists of doing little things often. Praying before we eat dinner, reading the Bible together at the breakfast table (the first to finish eating reads it before the two year old wants down from her highchair), praying with the kids before bed, and reading a small devotional together after the toddler is asleep. Little habits... but often.
Festivals:
We have been looking at Jewish festivals (we are founded on a Jewish religion after all) and their significance to us as Christians. These are whole day or even week-long events, such as Hanukkah, Passover or Rosh Hashanah.
While we don't follow the requirements of the whole festival, we think about its meaning and do at least one of the activities involved. It means we get to do something as a family and it keeps God in our minds throughout the year.
3. Release the guilt.
Don't feel guilty about your lack of time. Every season of life will be busy in its own way. As a student you're busy studying; then you need to focus on your career; and now maybe it's your relationships, kids and paying off the mortgage. One day you'll be busy helping the kids leave home.
If you want to get close to God you need to prioritize your time and change the way you do things depending on which season you are in. Ask God to help you with ideas for ways to spend time together in this season, and then move forward.
As you hand God your guilt about not spending enough time with Him, He forgives and forgets it - and so should you. Move forward into your now relationship that you both want together.
Discover new things about yourself and God by learning from the past and letting it be that... your past.
A final word.
Hopefully these tips will help you find your groove with God in your current season. May God bless you and hold you close as you continue to learn to cling to Him. And remember that this season too shall pass, and before you know it things will be changing yet again.