Journal Entry Date: February 18, 1997 (Part 4 of 5)
(Note: Due to the length of this particular journal entry, I’m posting it in five parts).
“Some things God has done in the last 24+ hours:
4 ) I prayed for God to wake me up early this morning so I could do some Bible study. I got up at 6:30 (and thought it was too late), but decided to go ahead and do my study. I started with prayer and used a pamphlet I picked up at outreach last night to get me started. I only read 13 verses (2 Chronicles 1:1-13) and spent only 30 minutes, but God met with me as I opened His Word.
I then woke up the rest of the family, everyone got ready in less than 30 minutes (a new record), and I was at my office at 7:50am!”
Author’s Note: We only had 1 vehicle at the time (that’s all we could afford), so everyone had to get up to take me to work so my wife could have the car during the day. I learned that if I wanted to have some good quality time with God, I had to do it either before the family got up or after they went to bed… at least while we had young children in the home.
Now that we’re older and our children are grown, there is more flexibility. I just remember how difficult it was back then to figure out how to protect quality time with God… our family was young and growing… and we always seemed to be exhausted. Getting up extra early was difficult… Staying up after everyone was in bed was equally difficult… and carving out time in the middle of the day was not just difficult, it was close to impossible. It was a constant struggle to maintain that discipline, and usually left me feeling guilty when I didn’t have my ‘quiet time.’
Over the years, I learned that setting aside specific time(s) each day was indeed an important spiritual discipline; however, I also learned how to spend even small moments with God all throughout my day… where I was constantly welcoming God into my everyday thoughts and activities.
I need His guidance… His advice… His encouragement… His strength… His power… His grace… His mercy… His forgiveness… His love… His compassion… His wisdom… His peace… and much more… every single day.
My life is not my own… My life belongs to Christ… So if my life is His, then shouldn’t He be included in every moment of it?
My Abiding Life 