Got Time?

I travel a lot, with a lot of people. It’s 9 of us, to be exact. I love it, but being on the road seems to cut in on the time that I would normally spend alone with God. You know, that in the kitchen, washing dishes time. It cuts into my “Lord, I just wanna thank You as I run around my apartment” sessions. But, that is no excuse for me not to talk with Him and hear and heed what He is saying to me.

My road experiences can be likened to a long-distance relationship. Yes, God is always with me, but in such relationships, the parties involved must make a conscious, intentional effort to stay in constant, satisfactory communication with one another. God is always speaking, so it is up to me to seek Him, even when I’m outside of my routine. Matthew 6:33 in our Playbook says to “Seek ye first the kingdom of God…”

Make Time for God

Lately, I’ve been given the most random spaces to spend time with God. Bathroom trips where the rest area was at least a five-minute walk from our green room; the opportunity to drop everyone off at the door while I’ve had to park our vehicle. And, even times like right now, when everyone is asleep except me and the driver – the perfect time to listen to Him and really hear His heart for me.

God has placed me in this space that I’m in, and I know He wouldn’t do so without writing time with Him into my crazy schedule. What I’m getting at is – although your time with God may look different than someone else’s, or even different than it has in the past, we need regular, consistent time with God.

Life happens and our schedules change, our time management skills are challenged, and the first thing out the window seems to be prayer and study time in the Word.

Why? I think it’s because we’ve been conditioned to think it’s only considered “time” when we are stationary for long periods as we go before the Lord.

May I submit to you that time with God can occur anywhere at any time? When the kiddos wake up during your prayer time; when your spouse seems to take up your devotion block, even when those extra projects from work seem to pile up, God wants you. Just know that if God gave you these additions to your life (children, spouse, job), He will grant you the necessary space in your day to fit Him in. I say “fit” because, although there is definitely opportunity, it is still up to us to make time to devote to Him. He won’t force it.

So, What’s the Play Call?

Previously, I could be called a terrible manager of my time. I would be so “busy” that I would skip out on prayer and catch a quick one on the way out the door. My writing (a charge that God has given me) suffered tremendously. Mainly because I “thought” that there was a certain, golden hour that I had to talk to God for it to count. If I slept through that 6 am prayer call, I’d say a quick “thank you Jesus” and keep moving. I would, in turn, be so exhausted that I would have to scramble to get stuff done. I was forgetting to do things and forgetting my brain (so it seemed). Once I realized what my problem was, and fixed it, my schedule fell together.

Here are a few tips that will, prayerfully, help you get a grasp on your God-given time:

1. Seek God first! When you seek out a manufacturer about how to operate their product, they can instruct you better than anyone else can. God created time, so He most assuredly can tell you how to manage and use it. Again, Matthew 6:33 says, “But “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” I believe that “all these things” includes time to spend with God.
2. There is time for everything that you are called, by God, to do. You must prioritize. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
3. Rest! When I’m tired, I go backward and try to squeeze more work in. On the other hand, when I am rested, I am rational and in tune with what God is saying. God instructed us to rest and my obedience allows room for clarity. “All in Judah were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their heart. They earnestly sought after God, and they found him. And the Lord gave them rest from their enemies on every side.” 2 Chronicles 15:15 (NLT). In this case, your enemy is lack of time with God.
4. Trust God’s prompting! God knows what He’s doing, He is just waiting for the opportunity to tell you. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
5. You have got to communicate with Him. God wants to hear from you… and He wants you to hear from Him. Our Playbook says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the NLT version says, “Never stop praying.” Prayer is communication with God, so this means never stop communicating with God.

I pray that you realize that your time with God may change from year to year, even day to day. Just ask Him what He is requiring of you in this season of your life. For me… it’s writing on a bumpy van ride and late-night prayer sessions. Let God lead you.