When we trade in our God Time for something else, the temporal gain will not be worth eternal rewards lost. Guest post by Meghan Weyerbacher.
“…The best thing I can offer to this world is not my force or energy, but a well-tended spirit, a wise and brave soul.” – Shauna Niequist
There was a time in my life more recent than not that life began to feel out of control. I was dropping balls daily from trying to be mom and dad at all waking hours of the day and no matter how many parenting courses I took or how many books I lapped up, I always felt like I was on the brink of a mommy-meltdown.
I was chomping at the bit to find solace and some sense of sanity, so I bought planners for everyone in our family and it became a new journey for this scatter-brained mama.
Prior to the planner-days, an early morning routine in the Word on the couch with coffee in hand had been this solace. Now with a new business on the move and planners stacked up beckoning my name, the God-only intentional hour in the morning seemed to be happening less and less.
The God-only intentional hour in the morning seemed to be happening less and less @MegWeyerbacher Click To TweetWhen I Traded God’s Presence For Planners
Met goals always got me in the feelers. When I felt underappreciated elsewhere, hard work gave me a pat on the head. So it happened, that I began to desire “it” more than anything else.
Confession: Taking refuge in my planner became more important to me than my morning God time.
It was a slow fade turned habit.
I didn’t realize it until one night as I was laying in bed tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep. It was like the valve wouldn’t shut off. My body was in constant go-mode from trying to keep everything running in tip-top shape. This wasn’t typically reality, but I was worn from trying.
I begged for peace. Then I remembered something Bonnie Gray said in her book, Whispers of Rest, “Am I moving by God’s invitation or by my striving?“
He reminded me that though out loud I said I hated perfection, I had actually been striving for it. In all areas of my life. In all planner-squares of my life.
Thus my nerves were wound up in a constant tight ball.
3 Reasons We Can’t Afford To Trade In Our God Time
The gain we will gather will not be worth the wedge that forms.
Over time, as I traded those intimate times with God for another minute of checking the list and getting work done, it was slowly forming a space between God and me. It was rooted in selfishness. But because I was so wrapped up in my next thing, guilt eluded me.
I didn’t even have a feeling of remorse at this point. It took a while and a feeling of overwhelm and emptiness from the striving before I realized what, or Whom I was missing out on.
Gain isn’t worth our relationship with our Father and it isn’t worth our relationship with others.
The gain we will gather will not be worth our wilted hearts.
We may not be able to spend every waking moment with God alone, but trading in our intimate time with him for getting ahead will only leave us feeling empty in the long run.
We can only run so long on fuel from other sources before it catches up with us. He longs to care for us daily. When we strive to find care and satisfaction in things apart from God, they can become idols in our hearts. With each passing day we say yes to them, and “Maybe later,” to spiritual growth, our spirit suffers.
Saying yes to those other things isn’t necessarily bad, but we need to be mindful it isn’t forfeiting the more important matters. God wants to be in the middle of our work, not a back-burner to it.
The gain we will gather will cause loss rather than profit.
If all that we have given up to get what we always “wanted” causes us to wind up being weary and joyless in the long run, it will all seem in vain. We will scratch our heads wondering how we got here and why we started in the first place.
We can stop trading in our intimate time with Him to get ahead and realize how temporal things sometimes glaze our sight. These things aren’t wrong but maybe because we see them more often, they become easy to look forward to: temporal rewards over those of eternity.
When we hold up the fruit of intimate time with God against those of competing factors, we will discover they don’t hold a candle to the marvelous way He fills us.
When we trade in our God Time, the gain we will gather will cause loss rather than profit. @MegWeyerbacher Click To Tweet“For by me your days will be multiplied. The years of your life will be increased.” Proverbs 9:11
What is tempting you to trade in your God Time?
Meghan Weyerbacher is lifestyle blogger and faith writer who is passionate about refreshing other writers through word + humor.
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Thanks again, Kelly for allowing me the opportunity to share words on your space today. You are a great friend!
Oh, friend. How I love your heart. These words are life-giving and I’m sure many can relate. I’ve been in a place like this so.many.times. I laughed because I just bought a planner, post “new blog” and I’m trying to get all my ducks in a row. How tempting it is to just wake up and dive into the list. But as you have said, there is no true gain there! Thank you so much for being a guest writer here. The pleasure is all mine. 🙂
It is a lesson I seem to keep having to relearn and I am just oh so thankful for God’s patience with me (us) as we keep growing! Love ya friend. xoxo
PS: I am excited for you and your new blogging adventures. He is with you.
Excellent points here, Meghan. Love this quote: God wants to be in the middle of our work, not a back-burner to it.
Sharing this on FB and Twitter!
Thank you so much, Sarah! Have a great week friend.
Thanks for the share love, Sarah! Blessings to you!
Dear Meg,
I love that quote by Bonnie Gray also, and then your follow-up thought: “He reminded me that though out loud I said I hated perfection, I had actually been striving for it” It is easy to fall back into that trap! I am so glad, though, that our Lord is so merciful, and waits until we hear Him calling us back to Him! Thanks to both of you, Meg and Kelly, for sharing this so-important word!
We can catch ourselves slipping easier when we keep on pressing into Him, not trading that time in – and when we et past the point of no return (we feel) …He seems to even show mercy even then. Not make it sounds worse than it is, but as the word says, I am reminded, “..where sin abounds, Grace is more” in Romans 5:20. And beautiful picture is that the more we build up a history of receiving this Grace as he gives it freely, we recognize the difference more and more. Thanks for hanging here today, Bettie! Your words always make me smile.
Thanks for joining us, Bettie!
A hundred times, yes! All our planning and striving does not bring the peace and direction that time with God does. Thank you Meghan!! <3
Hey Jessica! Amen…thank you for stopping by today friend. xoxo
<3
Nice to meet you, Jessica!
yes, see you don’t need another mother! I like to say, God wants our sitting more than our serving, ask Martha. May He serve you up all you need today!
That is so so good, Sue. I like that. I am so blessed by you though, so don’t go anywhere haha! Have a blessed week!!
It is so true. Trying to fill up with accomplishments at the expense of my God time always makes me feel empty. Thanks for sharing such great wisdom! Blessings!
Amen, Liz. I am glad it blessed you. xoxo
These are great points. Planning is good but it is also easy for it to get out of control and for the focus to be too much on our own efforts. We definitely need space for rest and to take time to focus on God and remember that really everything doesn’t depend on us!
“and remember that really everything doesn’t depend on us!” is so true, Leslie! Why is it such a challenge for us women to keep this at the forefront of our minds? Maybe because we have so many responsibilities but it goes back to not being conformed to ways of the world? Blessings to you!
Thank you for this great reminder, Meghan. I’m a list maker, planner lover too and it sure is easy get caught up in the satisfaction of the check mark. But the peace of God is not found in striving, is it? It is found in obedience and a calm and willing heart.
Happy to have read this, and glad to have visited your site, Kelly. 🙂
Thanks for visiting, Gleniece! Many blessings to you!
Very good post. I know I would not make it through a day without my time alone with God. I am so grateful for the way He guides my steps each day. Blessings!
Thank you, Joanne. Amen, friend. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Amen! I love that you quoted Bonnie’s book, it has been a tremendous help to me in a really busy season of life that I’m currently in. It would be easy for me to try and plan every second of the day, stress, and lose sleep. It would also be easy to say I don’t have time to have a quiet time in the morning…but oh, how my head and heart need those quiet moments to just be still before God. I never regret those moments and my day seems to go more smoothly.
Enjoyed reading your words, so glad you linked up over at God-sized Dreams!
The quote included in the beginning of this post took my attention. A wise and brave soul–such a great thought by Shauna Niequist.