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Just Don’t Have Time

18 Comments

Just Don’t Have Time

In a conversation with an acquaintance, I was sharing my passion of helping others to develop an intimate relationship with God. I have a long way to go, but I’ve discovered a path that has absolutely changed my life. As I was talking about spending time each day to cultivate that relationship, he said, “That’s great, but who has the time?” Very few people do.

The reason for not taking the time to abide and meditate on God’s Word, pray, talk with Him and be still to hear His voice, is not having extra time in the day. This excuse is probably the number one reason I hear. It used to be mine. But I learned something very important . . .

We don’t have the time because we aren’t making that personal one-on-one time with God a priority.

We all have the same amount of time. It’s OUR choice how we spend it. Now, we may of made a slue of wrong decisions so that we are a slave to so many things that discretionary time is non-existent, but bad choices aren’t written in stone, especially with the power of God at work in your life. God can reconstruct our lives starting today by us making better choices, specifically putting Him first in spending time with Him. This issue of making better choices brings up the first reason why we need to make spending time with God a priority and how that CRITICAL decision gives us more time to do what we need to. There are many reasons, but in consideration of your time – I’ll list four ☺

1. Wisdom – How we all could use more wisdom! God tells us that wisdom is the principle thing and to ask and seek for it. Proverbs 4:5-7 Our life is full of choices every day – and without wisdom from above we will make choices that enslave us instead of free us and keep us from moving forward toward where we REALLY want to go. Without wisdom we make bad decisions that bind us, so that we don’t have enough time for what truly matters. Wisdom comes from abiding the Word of God in faith. Got wisdom, got time.

2. Live of Balance and Rest – God desires us to have a balanced life – not one of chaos, frazzled and hassled– something very few people have as reflected in the fact that they don’t ever have enough time. Throughout the Bible there are verses about how God desires this soul state for us. Abiding is His Word brings this equilibrium into our lives. When we abide in truth, He starts to reorganize our life and priorities, which leads to a life of balance and rest. If we put Him first, He works out the rest. I’ve experienced this truth over and over. Putting Him first, requires trust and letting go, two things that come from cultivating a real relationship with Him. Got balance, got time.

3. Life free of lies – Lies bound and enslave us. The truth frees us. Many of us have bondage in our lives because of the lies we’ve mistaken for truth. We lack the healing and deliverance because we don’t have the truth. Truth heals. This bondage steals our time. For example, we try to prove and earn our worthiness by taking on all sorts of obligations. When you spend time with God each day – the truth starts to replace the lies and freedom is the result.

Women in particular, perhaps because I’m a woman, have fallen for many lies influenced by society about who they should be and what it means to be a successful woman. Ultimately it’s a life demanding EXTREME busyness. It’s an insane standard of existence. Believing those lies has created many unhealthy women on many levels. What is the way out? The truth. The truth comes from drawing near to God, because He is truth. When we draw near to Him, He invades our soul and brings the Truth with Him. Got truth, got time.

4. Power of God – As God invades our soul as we spend time with Him, His power and all that He is starts to manifest in our life. His power enables us to do things we never could; make our paths smooth, surround us with godly favor, makes us more productive and effective, defeats the enemies within and without that cause hardship, brings healing and the list goes on. All these outcomes of His power at work help us to live smoother, more productive, and restful lives. Got power, got time.

We are trying so hard to strive for __________. When we are neglecting the One who can make all the difference in moving us into a place we desire to be.

A life WITHOUT an intimate and growing relationship with God, isn’t life. It’s a mad house of extreme effort and never getting to where you really want to be.

God is life. Only by being deeply and actively in communion with Him do we have true life as well. Because, ONE – He desires to be in an intimate union with us, so it will never work apart from Him. TWO – He desires for us to live a purposeful life glorifying His power and love, the one He uniquely created for us to live. You can’t disconnect the two for together they are the fulfillment of our purpose.

Not making time to spend with God keeps us in a place where we will never have the time. Not having time is no longer an excuse, because it’s the answer. Now rethink and reorganize your day and put Him first. It’s a decision that will put you on a path headed to where you really want to be, consumed in Him and abiding in abundant life.

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Author: Rachel

Contemplating the oneness of Truth while guided by the Voice of Truth produces the evolution or maturation of the soul, spirit and mind, so reality can begin to reflect Truth's immutable, divine attributes, which manifest the highest good for all. This blog reflects an ever-deepening understanding of the Truth a soul gains as its mind is renewed by Truth's pure Light.

18 thoughts on “Just Don’t Have Time

  1. Thank you for the insightful post that definitely speaks the truth. Once again you reaffirm what is most important!

    The older I get, the more convinced I am that the only life worth living is one spent in connection with my Creator.

    I cannot imagine living without spending large amounts of time in the peacefulness of His presence. This is the solace that gets me through those hectic teaching days.

    • JoDee – I’ve found the same to be true – a life spent in connection with our Creator is the only one worth living and it is the only life we live that truly is life.

  2. So many people “don’t have time,” but you’re right, Rachel. It’s a trick.

    I think one trap we fall into is the trap of “doing good things.” Soccer for the kids is a good thing; joining the arts council is a good thing; keeping tabs on legislation and volunteering at the homeless shelter and learning to play the piano are all good things. The big question is: are they the good things that God wants ME to do?

    I have to stop myself and ask, because my natural inclination is to say, “Yeah–sure, I’ll do that!” and at the time it always seems like a good idea, but pretty soon my time is all gone and I’m starving for the bread of Heaven and the living water.

    It’s hard, especially for young parents, but it’s essential.

    One thing that used to put me off when I had little ones was the emphasis on seeking God in the morning. I couldn’t. I would be sitting there at the table literally falling asleep. There’s nothing in the world wrong with choosing a time that works for each individual. If it works better, forgo the TV time in the evening and spend it with Him.

    Thanks for a great reminder, Rachel. God has been impressing on me lately that it’s vital for His sheep to learn His voice NOW. Extremely deceptive times lie ahead of us, and we need to know Him.

    Blessings, Cindy

    • Hi Cindy – an excellent point about “doing good things” – we need to seek how God desires us to spend our time (b/c when we are His, our time is His) – and not determine what we think is “good”. I find that God calls me to a lot more time with Him than I would have thought. And when you look at the life of Christ – the short time He had here and now much time He spent with God alone. He was setting the example of what is important and that balance between being and doing. Also, good point about when – we have to find the time that works best for us.

  3. Hi Rachel
    Really good encouraging words! It’s so very important to spend time with our Saviour,the more you know him the more you love him! Oh how I love the Lord and being in his Holy presence.I hope all is well your way and I know you’ll continue doing his good work.
    Love you 😀

    • Yes Pat – the more you know Him the more you love Him – so how very important to really get to know Him 🙂 Glad you stopped by 🙂

  4. Fantastic topic and message. Before starting your program for daily time with God, it was easy for me to convince myself I was too busy to spend time with God today for a variety of reasons.

    It was not until I prioritized that time did it become an the most important of my things to do. Now, I decide what I have time for with the remaining things on the daily list.

    • Slamdunk – so glad that you spend that time with Him – how it affects everything. When we spend time with God – then the rest works out.

  5. we cannot afford not to make time……..if we are too busy for God, we are TOO busy!

  6. Very convicting post, Rachel! I have run into so many things that distract me from consistently spending quality time with God. Your writing (and your friendship) are always reminders to fight against these things. An old friend/acquaintance just got in touch with me about helping her with something; I’ve always enjoyed doing it, but my initial thoughts was “huh, there’s no way I’ll have time for that”… but then I started thinking, “well, I could probably carve out some time somewhere” and immediately I started feeling convicted that if I could carve out more time for that, I should be carving out more time just for spending with God. Thanks for the reminders, as always!

    Spending time with Him, reading His Word, even if I see my lack or feel like I only barely understand, is healing refreshment and strengthens me for fighting the battles that come my way.

    • Hi Ruth! It is easy, especially these days, for other things to come in and take up our time – especially when our situations start changing. Thanks for your comment! 🙂

  7. I think many people look at the Bible and its size and get overwhelmed. But the Gospel of Mark only takes about an hour to read straight through. One hour. You also mention wisdom…we could all easily read 1 Proverb a day for a month. Neither of these suggestions are meant to replace reading the Bible as a whole, but they are starting points at least. It’s interesting how we can easily spend an hour (or worse, hours) in TV or internet, yet the Bible seems overwhelming and too time-consuming.

    Rachel, you are so right in saying that not having the time is not an excuse. We ALL have the time, it’s just a matter of how we choose to prioritize it. Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said, “Let God’s voice be the first we hear in the morning.” It’s amazing what our days look like when we follow that suggestion.

    • Hi Joe – what a great quote thanks for sharing. And it is a good suggestion – break it down into bite size pieces. That’s why I often recommend start by reading two chapters a day one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. And take time to digest it. I think sometimes people get on a reading plan and its all about just getting through the Bible and don’t stop to really meditate on what it is saying. Reading so much a day is to be only a guideline, we are to read with a listening ear and if the Spirit calls us to stop and meditate on a passage then that’s what we do. It is about trusting the Holy Spirit, who was given to teach us, to teach us. 🙂

  8. I love this!!! I have struggled in my life with making time for reading and studying. I know that you make time for what is important so I try to evaluate why it doesn’t make the cut sometimes. Just like any relationship it requires time and effort to keep it healthy. I want the best out of the people that I am close to and I have become aware that God wants the best out of me as well. This is a life long journey for me!

    Thanks for your heart!

    • Hi Christy, thanks for your comment – our relationship with God is like others – and if He is to be our first love – we are to give our time like He is. Yet, it is much easier said than done. We have an enemy that wants to keep us distracted and too busy so we don’t spend that time because he understands just how powerful it is. And I agree it is a life long journey – as it is a life long relationship.

  9. haha I read this one already!

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