Waiting Well

Scripture to Ponder:

Psalm 46

Winter season is often an exremely long blur with occassional highlights like Christmas. The other days are sick season and seasonal depression added with an early sunset where it becomes hard to keep track of the days and the hours. They all blend together and drag on relentlessly while we wait for warm weather and spring days to appear. It's currently January 27th and still we wait. It should be renamed the Season of Waiting.

Life gets busy, intentionally or not, and it gets easy to become wrapped up in responsibilities and daily life. Even in the positives, even in service, we can lose sight of our priorities and purpose. The things we once felt were important get lost in the shuffle and relationships take a backseat to committments we've made and the business of life. We make excuses and try to justify time in our own minds but it never seems to be in abundant supply. We seem to always be trying to make time for the things we remind ourselves that matter.

Jesus made time. See what I did there??? What a profound thought. He created it, but he also set it apart as an example in his earthly life. He intentionally made time time for people, for relationships. Especially, his relationship with the Father. He knew how precious a gift time was and how fleeting it is. He was a perfect example of stewarding his time well. I reflect on the life of Christ, his short time on earth, and yet how well he glorified the Father with his time. Many of us are passed the age in relation to the time Christ had on earth. Have we waited well? Have we been good stewards of our time we've been given while we wait on what's ahead?

I imagine his earthly life often felt pressured, the salvation of the human race resting upon his shoulders. Yet, he still found time to love people well. To reach out to others. To form unshakeable relationships with his disciples. To let people know they were loved. Most importantly, his relationship with his Father was his main priority. When life was busy, when the multitude continued to seek him, when they wanted what he could offer them over who he was, he set apart his time. He went to his father. He didn't carve out a 30 minute window and neatly check off that he completed his devotion. His devotion was God. He brought God into every aspect of his earthly life. He was always about his father's business. We seem to have the opposite idea of spending time with the Father. We try to carve out time for him. Sis, I think we may have it wrong. I don't think that's what He meant when He told us to abide in him. We are constantly battling flesh, and it is no different with our time. I think some of us even need to be reminded that even if we're busy, that doesn't always mean we are stewarding our time well. We can over committ and leave ourselves limited time to rest in his presence. We can be so busy that we're unable to love the people around us well. There is a beautiful word mentioned in the Psalms multiple times - Selah. It's meaning is to pause. To reflect. In a culture that is so fast paced and heaping with responsibilities let's not forget that God also calls us to pause and reflect so that we can adjust our focus and realign our priorities.

I don't find this word as a random break but as an intentional call to rest and reflect. If you have found yourself in the season of waiting…sorry…I mean't winter, and are overwhelmed with life and all it's facets, perhaps he is calling you to Selah. To pause and spend time reflecting. The cure for our season of waiting is intimacy with Christ. Waiting for answers, waiting for healing, waiting for a prodigal child's return, whatever it is that you find yourself waiting for, are you waiting well? Are you waiting at the feet of the Savior? Because there is the source of the water of life! He created time. He gifted us the precious amount of time we have on this earth - the time that is truly his to begin with, in hopes that we spend it in communion with him. My what a Savior!

As sisters, may we wait well. May we sustain our sisters in the waiting, while we are drawing from the source himself. May we pause and reflect on what he has called us to, who and what our priorities are, and may our time be a reflection of that. May the time he has gifted us for this earthly life bring glory to non other than the Father! Let's allow ourselves to rest in Christ and reflect on who he is! - Selah

Questions to Consider:

1) Where is the majority of my time spent? Who is it spent with? Does it reflect my priorities?

2) If Christ called me home tomorrow, would the time I have spent bring glory to God?

3) What changes do I need to make to make my devotion God and not making God a part of my devotions?