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We are a day away from starting the 2013-2014 ESBS year. The
students have started to arrive and I am really excited to get started! But as
the school year closes in, I continue to process my summer and the time spent
in South Dakota.
I mentioned in my previous blog post that Evan Hays and I
had some quality conversations about God and how He has worked in our lives
over the past year. I think the conversation that has stuck out in my mind the
most stemmed out of a question that Evan asked me. He asked, “How much time do
you spend in the quiet?” This question really got my attention because as I
thought about it I realized that I don’t spend that much time in the quiet. I
am usually “plugged in” to my computer, Ipod or phone or I have the TV on.
I mean I have “quiet times” in the morning, but they are
usually quick to say I did it, and then as soon as I am done the day comes and
it brings all its distractions with it. These distractions come in the form of
music, TV, Internet and people. Now none of those things are bad, but they do
divert my attention from spending time with God.
When I was out in South Dakota I started thinking about my
quiet times and I noticed that even in those times I’m not that quiet. I am
usually the one that is doing all the talking; and then when I’m done talking
the quiet time is over and I move on to the next thing on my list for the day. During
those times I often ask for God to speak to me and to give me the ears to
understand His voice, but I never give Him the opportunity to. I always have
something going on or I am distracted. So what I am asking for is God to break
through the noise that I am constantly feeding myself and capture my attention.
And if I’m honest I would tell you that is a difficult task … If you don’t believe
me, then ask my mom. What I am not doing is making time in my day where I am
quieting myself and what is around me, so that I can give God the opportunity
to speak.
As Evan and I talked about this, we realized that time like
this has to be INTENTIONAL on our part. We have to fight for that time where
we can get away and have time with the Lord. I desire that time with the Lord
because it is good and refreshing. It is healthy for our relationship with Him to
be quiet and serious about hearing God’s voice. Thinking back to the Bible
there are many stories of the prophets (Elijah in 1 Kings 19), Jesus (Luke
5:16, John 6:7, Matt 26:36), Peter (Acts 10:9) and Paul (Galatians 1:13-17) taking
time out of their day and life in order to be intentional to sit and listen for
the voice of God.
I have acknowledged that this is a good thing, a healthy
thing and a righteous thing. So this is something that I want for my life and
for my relationship with Jesus. I ask that you think about what this looks like
in your own life.
