Do you struggle in the attempt to spend time with your Heavenly Father each day? I've been there friend, and there are many days when I am still there! Over the past year, I have been exploring what it means to commune with the Father through daily devotions. I have tried many different approaches, and though my practice is far from perfect, I have been able to develop a steady and healthy rhythm of devotion time. Today I started asking myself, "what has led to this increase in my engagement with my daily devotions?" and there were a few things that stuck out.
So today, I have for you a little list of tips that I hope will help you engage more fully with God as you enter into the Christian discipline of personal devotion time.
1) Don't find time, make time.
If finding time is your number one issue when it comes to spending time with God, then nothing else on my list is going to help you until you give up trying to find time and just simply make time. The honest truth is that if your schedule is so jam-packed that you don't have even 10 minutes to spend with God each day (or even 3 days/week) then you are too busy. Plain and simple friend. In our busy culture these days it is unlikely that the average person has spare time just lying around waiting to be filled, so if you keep looking for that hidden amount of time, you won't find it. Contrary to what you may believe, you are not a slave to your schedule. God has given you the freedom to say "yes" and to say "no" and so if you are struggling to find the time amidst your busy schedule to be with God, then there is something currently in your schedule that you need to say "no" to in order to spend time with Jesus. I'd start with all things technology, such as: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, online games, texting, watching TV, browsing magazines, and online shopping. Prioritize making time to be with God, and I promise you the rewards you reap will be far more fulfilling than any of the things on that list.
2) Create sacred space.
Once we have carved time out to be with God, perhaps the next biggest barrier to a successful devotional time is distractions and interruptions. Any mother knows this (not that I am one...)! But really, we all know it because pretty much all of us own cell phones. Those blasted things we can't live without. So we need to create a sacred space in our lives, and most often this involves separating ourselves from others so that we can be focused on Jesus. This is a practice that Jesus actually modeled for us, He often when off by Himself to pray. We can follow this example by seeking solitude from time to time, in order to commune with our Father. This may mean closing a door, going into a closet, a different floor of the house. I once heard a story of a mother who would sit in her kitchen and put a blanket over her head. Her children would walk in the room to ask her a question, see the blanket (a visual cue that now was not the time to bother mom unless it was urgent) and would wait until later to chat with her. You could even leave a notepad out on the counter so that they can write their question down, and then you follow up with them when they are finished. This simple act gave this mother mental space in which she could be with the Lord amidst even a chaotic house. Of course, if the matter was urgent (i.e. an emergency of conflict) then she would excuse herself from God's presence and tend to her children. But the point is that when it comes to developing consistency in our devotional lives, environment matters, and even putting a blanket over your head as you pray creates a different mental environment.
3) Use sound as a pathway.
For some, music or sound is distracting while they are trying to focus. If this is the case, try to find a quiet place, or purchase some ear plugs and put them in (here is a link to my favourite brand) in order to create silence. For others, music drowns out distraction (this is ME!), and so engaging fully in your devotion means finding music that acts as a pathway to God. For me, this is quiet, ambient or instrumental music. I found this amazing playlist the other day on The Good Christian Music Blog. it has been on repeat every morning this week. Each individual's taste is different. Instrumental might be your best bet, for others, it is worship and for others, it is electronica. Whatever your taste, find music that feeds your soul and brings you into communion with the Father rather than distracting you from Him. If silence is what does it, then choose that.
4) Be devoted.
In the past, I have given up on Bible reading plans or devotional books when I felt like I wasn't "getting much out of it." In the past year, I have learned that daily devotions are less about my feelings and more about showing up. They are about devotion or faithfulness, that is why they are called devotions! Devotion is actually defined as "profound dedication, consecration." So if I have a friend who I hang out with regularly, and there are a few hangouts in a row where we don't have some sort of amazing communal experience together, does this mean that I will stop being their friend? Of course not, because friendship is about loyalty - it's about devotion! We stick around even when we go through dry patches, and sticking around actually teaches us a great deal about friendship. The same is true in marriage and this virtue also extends into our devotional life. What if we viewed our devotional time as time that was consecrated, or "set apart" for God? What if we devoted ourselves to freeing our time up to meet with God daily regardless of the outcome? What if devotions were more about learning to actually be devoted and less about learning something? I mean, obviously you don't want to sit there and waste your time every day, but the truth is that if you are sitting in communion with God each day, your time is not wasted.
5) Slow down.
This requires little explanation (I hope). Basically, the idea is not to just rush through your devotion. The idea is to spend quality time with God, not to just rush through and read as much of the Bible as possible or to catch up on days you've missed in your devotional book. Be okay with missed days. Be okay with not having a specific timeline or agenda. Let God bring the agenda. If all you do for 5 days straight is read the same 3 verses over and over again and spend time reflecting on what they mean - that is a successful devotional week. It's not about quantity, but quality, so take it slow.
6) Be expectant.
Slowing down also opens our ears to what God might want to say to us on any given day. But we often don't hear things because we either A) don't want to or B) don't expect to and so we don't even bother to listen. Come to every devotional time expecting to hear something from God. Maybe you won't hear something every single time, but the more you expect to hear from Him and open yourself up to the possibility, the more you will. It might be confusing (more on that below) and it might be hard at first, but eventually you will begin to hear from God, and not just during your devotion time!
7) Ask questions.
If you aren't hearing from God, ask Him a question. Where are you God? Why aren't you speaking to me? Why can't I hear you? Listen for a response. See what happens. Or maybe you are hearing things (from your devotional book, from the Scriptures, from the music, or maybe something pops into your head that you heard in a sermon or podcast) and they don't make sense to you. Ask Him why. I don't understand this, can you explain it to me? Is this for me, or for someone else? Is there someone you want me to share this with? Is this for now or for later? When we ask questions, we continue the conversation. God doesn't have to do all the talking.
8) Read something good.
This is the last item on my list because, honestly, I think it is maybe the least important (bear with me...). I believe this because if we do the first 7 steps, then it matters very little what devotional book we choose to read that day. As with many things in our faith, it is our heart that matters most. So if our hearts are open, if we have set apart time, and if we have done our part in trying to create an environment in which we can meet with the Father, then the material become just a vehicle to move us into communion with God. When our hearts are there, any devotional book or Scripture we read can be used by God to speak to us. Eventually, you may even find that you don't need a devotional book to aid you, the Scriptures alone are sufficient. I highly recommend that you always keep the Scriptures as part of your devotion time, but I also think sometimes we place all the emphasis on what we are reading and not on who we are meeting with. You may not remember in a few weeks what you read yesterday in your devotional with God. But if you had an encounter with Him, you'll remember how you felt and what you learned. This is because experiences solidify knowledge. So yes, choose a book that resonates with you. And obviously don't choose a devotional book that doesn't speak to your heart, mind, and soul. But don't think that choosing the right devotion book is what will transform your devotional time because it won't.
Well, that's it! I hope you find this helpful. If you have tips for how to improve your devotion life, please comment them below!
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3.06.2017
Aiming for Greatness
For example, when Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky entered their perspective fields of sport - they both redefined what it meant to be great at basketball and hockey. And ever since then players in both these fields have been compared to these two great men, and many covet the label of being the next Jordan or Gretzky. These men are the "greats" in their field.
Lately I have been craving greatness, and I think where this desire comes from is a place of deep hunger to feel purposeful in this world. I want to be effective, in all areas of my life: I want a great marriage, a great ministry, to be a great sister and friend and leader. But what I am slowly realizing is that greatness in the realm of faith is not like worldly greatness.
We are not meant to become great as the world sees greatness.
We are meant to make God greater, as John the Baptist said, "He must become greater, I must become less" (John 3:30). I love the way the Message translation puts it, "This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines."
And I think I know this, in my core - that life isn't all about me - and yet I have lived so much of my life acting like I am the center of the universe. My goals have been personal happiness, success, fulfillment, and fame.
Even those times when I have gotten angry with God for one trial or another has come from a place of selfishness - whatever was happening was not what was best for me, it was not making me happy.
And so I need this constant reminder that my personal happiness is not, in fact, God's goal. God's goal is both personal and communal redemption. It is our restoration; our sanctification.
But I tend to get so focused on myself that I forget everyone else. I forget that my life is just one part of a whole. I am part of a family, a community, a marriage. Who I am and what I do impacts more than just me. It can impact the entire world.
And so the question I have to keep asking myself when I want to turn my back on God and say, "this is not what I wanted... this is not my version of greatness," is this: "could this mean great things for someone else?" And when I don't like what God is doing, I am reminded that perhaps what He is doing is bigger than just me - that maybe sometimes the things that happen in my life have little to do with me at all - they are for someone else.
And so my faith is constantly bringing me back to this place that I find it really hard to stay in: a place of humility. I don't like being humble. It's not natural or normal. I want to elevate myself. I want to be great. I want to have the life I've always wanted to live. But my Lord constantly reminds me that I was created for something more than mere personal greatness. I was created to take part of an epic story that expands way beyond myself. Yes, I was created for something much greater. And fulfilling this high and holy calling begins with lowering ourselves. It begins with humility.
This is what it really means to become "great": it is not to be above everyone else - but to be below. It is to humbly accept that our lives are meant for more than just our own personal fulfillment. They are meant to draw others, the whole world in fact, into truth, grace, love and redemption.
I pray that my heart will become more like those of our faith fathers who, "[did not], even though their lives of faith were exemplary, get their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours" (Hebrews 11:39-40, MSG).
2.19.2017
giving myself permission
I made a NewYears Resolution this year that I would start writing again.
And like with every year's resolution, I did write for a little while. But then after about 4 days my writing tapered off and I started waking up every Monday morning (my writing day) saying, 'Today, I will write!" ... and then it was 11pm Monday night and I had written nothing.
This is no irregular pattern for me. Having a desire - a skill I want to hone or a project I want to get done - and not following through. Our small apartment is full of these unfinished projects. Unfinished poems, songs, paintings, nutrition plans... and it is actually quite okay with me because lately I have given myself permission not to finish everything I start. Permission to try new things and not like them, or just not finish because I plain lose interest. Permission to have unfinished business.
And yet today I need a different type of permission. And I need this permission because writing isn't like all those other things I set out to do and don't finish. I like writing. Love it, in fact. Especially when it isn't the school type or writing... though I even like that sometimes too. It is therapeutic, helps me process, and is probably one of the only ways I remember anything. I also like writing because I believe I am good at it (someone pinch me... did I just say I was good at something? That never happens. No like honestly - I'm pretty self-deprecatory). But yes, most of the time I think I'm good at writing, and I want to be better.
But for the past 2 months I haven't been publishing anything anywhere because I've been afraid. Afraid that maybe I'm not as good at it as I think I am. Afraid no one will read it. Afraid that the words I write will not be found interesting or significant by anyone but me. And then I realize that I need more permission... Permission to not writing something dazzling every day, but just to write for the sake of writing something, Permission to give up my people-pleasing ways and create something that, if no one reads it, could really just be for me. And finally, permission to be courageous and just do it: just write!
Not always my strong suit - courage that is. Seriously. I did a personality test with my husband a few weeks ago and my personality description literally said that I was a cautious person in all areas of life, and in particular that I spend a lot of time planning moves and not a ton of time executing them (unless life - or my job - requires it, which they always do!). And so on Jan 1st I planned to write, and I did a little bit, but it never once wound up on my blog - the blog that when I was 15 I posted on almost every day (you can read the archives... I'm sure my 15-year-old brain was even more dazzling than this 28-year-old one, ha).
And so today I am giving myself permission.
Permission to be courageous.
Permission to fail.
And permission, more than anything else, to write.
So here goes, friends.
Want to come along for the ride?
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