Last year was my first year since homeschooling my children to teach full-time in public schools. Teaching is all consuming. But I want God to be all-consuming in my life.
It took about a two weeks after teaching for my neck and back muscles to stop cramping from being tense. Being “on” for students and administration can be exhausting -- that is what my last, long post was about -- the full-time exhaustion I felt. Now that I have had time to breathe, I am open to God to show me what he wants me to do next. I am placing my life in His hands and giving Him control.
When life (and responsibilities of work) start eating up my time, I struggle to find time for God. I wonder-- Do all people who work outside of the home full-time have this same problem?
And I am so behind with housework. I have so much to clean, so much to go through, and so much to through or give away. Yet, God tugs on my heart, so...
I opened the Bible this morning to Zephaniah 1:7 and read “Be silent in the presence of the Lord God; for the day of the Lord is at hand.” In Zephaniah, the prophet is giving a warning that troubled times are coming, he describes it as: "trouble and distress,” “devastation and desolation,” "darkness and gloominess,” and “clouds and thick darkness” (Z 1:15).
This reminds me of the paradox that while we can we need to be silent before God and seek Him, because we go through seasons of times that will be filled with greater stress.
This verse in Zephaniah reminds me of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God...”.
When we think of prayer, we often think of talking. But God asks us to have times of drawing near and being silent, of being aware of His presence, that He is God. We are to bask in awe of Him. And if we are silent, we are in a position to listen.
When Samuel heard God’s voice, his response was “Speak, for Your servant hears” (1 Sam 3:10). It is through listening that we can know God’s heart for us. I often say I want to do God’s will, like I said in the beginning of writing this that “I am placing my life in His hands and giving Him control,” but this requires me to have a mind and heart that is ready, spending silent time in His presence. In doing so, I get to know God more, and by knowing God better, the desires of my heart will be more aligned with His.
Like a child, I need to approach God, not always with a heavy burdened heart, but with childlike dependence saying, “Here I am.” And then, allow myself the time to move into His presence, before I waste the whole day trying to do.
God wants me first to be, and receive from Him.
(photo credit: star childen III/9 by KVirtanen and a silent thought by sagavision -- both on deviantart)
It took about a two weeks after teaching for my neck and back muscles to stop cramping from being tense. Being “on” for students and administration can be exhausting -- that is what my last, long post was about -- the full-time exhaustion I felt. Now that I have had time to breathe, I am open to God to show me what he wants me to do next. I am placing my life in His hands and giving Him control.
When life (and responsibilities of work) start eating up my time, I struggle to find time for God. I wonder-- Do all people who work outside of the home full-time have this same problem?
And I am so behind with housework. I have so much to clean, so much to go through, and so much to through or give away. Yet, God tugs on my heart, so...
I opened the Bible this morning to Zephaniah 1:7 and read “Be silent in the presence of the Lord God; for the day of the Lord is at hand.” In Zephaniah, the prophet is giving a warning that troubled times are coming, he describes it as: "trouble and distress,” “devastation and desolation,” "darkness and gloominess,” and “clouds and thick darkness” (Z 1:15).
This reminds me of the paradox that while we can we need to be silent before God and seek Him, because we go through seasons of times that will be filled with greater stress.
This verse in Zephaniah reminds me of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God...”.
When we think of prayer, we often think of talking. But God asks us to have times of drawing near and being silent, of being aware of His presence, that He is God. We are to bask in awe of Him. And if we are silent, we are in a position to listen.
When Samuel heard God’s voice, his response was “Speak, for Your servant hears” (1 Sam 3:10). It is through listening that we can know God’s heart for us. I often say I want to do God’s will, like I said in the beginning of writing this that “I am placing my life in His hands and giving Him control,” but this requires me to have a mind and heart that is ready, spending silent time in His presence. In doing so, I get to know God more, and by knowing God better, the desires of my heart will be more aligned with His.
Like a child, I need to approach God, not always with a heavy burdened heart, but with childlike dependence saying, “Here I am.” And then, allow myself the time to move into His presence, before I waste the whole day trying to do.
God wants me first to be, and receive from Him.
(photo credit: star childen III/9 by KVirtanen and a silent thought by sagavision -- both on deviantart)
I am so fed up of life these days and thats taking me more and more away from God! Seems like a punishment kind of! loosing feelings
ReplyDeleteI so understand being fed up. I have had the mixture of working full-time and barely hanging on to my relationship with God as I seem to race through life exhausted, and the times when I am not working full-time. In both, it takes discipline to turn things off and not be distracted by the world and the “to do” list. However, it is so much harder to find time that you are rested to devote wholly to His presence and reading of the Word when your life is very full or when you work full-time, and then have so many other responsibilities.
DeleteIts been kind of hard to explain to my daughter the christian concepts and how to balance religion with the world! your website always helps
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. A true believer must live in the world to be salt and light, but we do not judge those in the world. And we do not absorb the input of the world, to be influenced by it. I am glad it helps. It is a challenge to apply what we read and how we learn from God into our life.
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ReplyDelete