Thought number 1:
Last April, my pastor preached this message:
Live your life knowing that you know there is the other side… that all this is temporary… that life in perfect love awaits… that our faith will one day be sight.
Thought number 2:
A few days later as I was driving to an evening meeting after being at school from 7:15 until 5:30, I felt (as I’d been feeling for so long) that I didn’t have enough space in my days to just complete a thought. I couldn’t complete my thoughts because my energy was so taken by the work day, things that needed to be done at home, in relationships, etc. This created frustration in all areas of my life, but especially because I didn’t feel like I had enough energy to really read my Bible and dissect it like I used to. All of these other things in my life were robbing me of the energy I needed to be able to truly study my Bible and to have a completed thought at the end. That left me with the feeling that I could not be as close to God as I was when I had time for thinking, reading, and writing. I felt as if my hectic life was holding me back from experiencing and knowing God.
And then I combined those two thoughts:
And it occurred to me that my life and my relationship with God are NOT two separate things. I experience God in my life. That’s where our relationship exists! Not just in my free time. That whole misconception of needing free time in order to know Him and experience Him is what was tripping me up.
He is with me always. I experience Him as I teach. As I see my students with love and with an ache to help them. As I see their humor, feel their frustration, anger, joy, disappointments, fear. As I offer an encouraging word. I experience Him at home when I have good advice for my daughters (that I know came from the Lord and not from me) and when my daughters do something beyond nice just to make my day easier. I experience God in every situation in which I interact with other people.
And this was the conclusion:
Yes, I still need quiet time. And, yes, I need time of no distractions leaving me with energy to focus on only Him. But those are not my only defining moments with Him. The subject matter I ponder and write about is what I’m experiencing in my every moment and how I make sure to include Him in those every moments.
I am one person living one life. And if I live it consciously recognizing that there is another side — if I live in that great hope — then all my moments will have great meaning. Not just my solitary-unlimited-time-of-no-interruptions moments. And my relationship with God will continue to grow and deepen.