Life seems to have me very distracted right now. All the things I want to do, I don't seem to have the time or energy for. Can you relate with me friends? My intentions are good and my schedule jammed packed with good things but I wonder. Can you have too many good things that rob you of the time you should spend with the Creator of all things good?
I haven't written in a couple weeks. Time has been a big reason, but also I just don't feel like I have anything to say. I started getting nervous about that. Ideas were just not coming to me and I didn't have a lot of insight into my present circumstance. As I went through my busy routine and completed tasks that were at hand, I didn't feel like sitting down and reflecting on my day. I just wanted to get the kids bathed, avoid any huge blow ups, and sit in front of the piles of laundry that need folding as I wonder where I should begin.
I didn't feel like I had the energy to reflect and look at what God is doing in my life and the lives of those around me. It's not that I wasn't appreciative or I didn't know He was there, I just didn't have time to stop and think. Maybe you can relate? As I read God's word this morning and prayed, God revealed something to me about reflection. It is through our personal reflection, God gives us something to say. When we look back at what we've been through and what God did, He blesses us with words to write, words to speak, words to encourage. You see friends, it is through this discipline that Christ reveals to us our calling and purpose.
Think about it. When we reflect and look back, we understand better the circumstances and valleys we have walked. We see God's plan to make us stronger, purge our lives of addiction or unhealthy relationships and sinful behaviors. God refines us into a creation who looks more like him when we stop and acknowledge the transforming power that is given on the cross. It is when we look back, that God blesses us with insight and shows us the pain of life was worth it. Reflection reminds us of our dependency upon Christ and the strength we can draw when we call upon His name.
I didn't have much to say because I didn't take the time to stop and reflect on what God is doing in my life. When I stopped, reveled at His goodness and marveled in His love, a story began to unfold because I took the time to commune with the One who writes my story to begin with.
Friends if you feel like you don't have a voice, if you feel like your story doesn't matter; stop and reflect. Look at what He has done and is doing in your life and the lives of those around you. Thank Him for bringing you to the other side and look at the blessings that can easily be hidden by the darkness. Through reflection, God can speak to us so we can learn from past mistakes or praise Him for past blessings.
We all should take time each day to stop and reflect as we look back at the story God is writing in my lives. When I meditate on scripture, vulnerably pray, and reflect on past circumstances I cultivate a relationship with my Savior that can sustain me through the most busy seasons of life. When I rob myself of this intimate time with Jesus, I become off balanced and not centered. Satan starts to whisper thoughts of shame, inadequacy, and abandonment. My quiet time with God allows me to continue my busy life. It s in the quiet times of reflection that He gives me the fuel I need to make it through the day.
So I celebrate those quiet times of reflection. I celebrate the amazement I still feel when I see God working out an icky situation for His good. I celebrate the lessons God teaches me and the intimacy I share with my Creator when I stop and think about what he has done for me. He loves me, truly He does. No matter how amateur the offering is, He sticks it on His refrigerator proudly and displays the precious gift from His child. Friends may we all strive to put time aside everyday to reflect on Christ and what he has done in our lives. May we celebrate Him by sacrificing a block of time each day so He can talk with us and help us through the storms of life.
Celebrate the gifts, celebrate His goodness. Stop, reflect, and see that He has done great things. Allow God to teach you through your past circumstances so you can testify and teach others about His love and transforming power. Don't get so focused on what is to come that you miss the lessons taught by what we left behind. We all have a story to tell. The question is, will you take the time to learn what your story is.
No comments:
Post a Comment