A Thousand Times a Day

Happy new year!   It's hard to believe it's already 2018.   Seems like yesterday I had finally gotten use to signing checks with 17 on them, and now it's a whole new year.    This period of time when we reflect on a year over, with a new one lying ahead, is always for me, a time of remembering with sentimentality mixed with sadness, on what has been that will never be again.   Paired along side excitement and anticipation toward the newness, the possibilities and the potential, that a new year brings.   I was thinking a few days ago about all that happened this past year.   So much change, challenge, and growth.    So much business.   So very busy.   And while it was good things mostly, I realized that to some extent it has become a my normal to be busy.  Culturally we have conditioned ourselves that change is good, being busy means you are achieving something, and the quicker we can get things done the better.   Our food has gotten faster, our jobs suck up more hours, our errands can be done online, so that we don't even have to stop what we are doing to go to the store.   This started me thinking about my parents.     They are an older generation.   A generation that grew up without the choices and options we have today.   And my parents, who are by no means behind the times, bare the evidence of this in their lives.   They have lived in the same house for almost 30 years, and they have stayed with the same insurance company throughout this entire span of time.  They have the same phone service (AT&T) they have had since the day my dad brought home his first brick cell phone.  They even have some of the same furniture they had when we moved into the house....and I love it.   Every time I think about it, it fills me with a sense of peace and stability.  now don't get me wrong, there can be benefit to shopping around for a cheaper rate on your home owners insurance, or switching cell phone carriers to the unlimited plan.   But the thing I can't help but think is....it's a mindset.   They aren't trying to constantly change or upgrade everything, comparing themselves with their neighbor's plan or feeling unsatisfied because they have an older car or a less "trendy" landscaping.   they are just happy with what they have.    This mentality is missing I think, from a lot of the current cultural trends and attitudes.    And I think it can affect us spiritually if we aren't careful.   We want a fast food faith.     Memes and one liners fill our social media feeds.  We have church on line or on tv.    And even when we go to a service, we want it to fit within a time frame we have decided is appropriate for a Sunday service.  If it goes to long, or doesn't follow a certain format we expect, we begin to grow impatient.   We want that part of our lives to fit neatly into the portion of time we designate for it.    But here is the thing,  a fast food faith will produce low quality fruit.   We have to make the choice ourselves to take the time with the Lord.   Prioritize Him.   To ask Him what we can do for Him, instead of asking Him to fit into our lives.    Even good things, can be bad things, if they pull us away from His presence.   I am the worst of them all when it comes to this.     I struggle with the idea that it is not only ok, but for our good to stop.   To rest.   To wait on the Lord.  

Brother Lawerence said it best in his book The Practice of the Presence of God

"Whatever we do, even if we are reading the Word or praying, we should stop for a few minutes-as often as possible-to praise God from the depths of our hearts, to enjoy Him there in secret. Since we believe that God is always with us, no matter what we may be doing, why shouldn't we stop for a while to adore Him, to praise Him, to petition Him, to offer Him our hearts, and to thank Him?
What could please God more than for us to leave the cares of the world temporarily in order to worship Him in our spirits? These momentary retreats serve to free us from our selfishness, which can only exist in the world.  In short, we cannot show our loyalty to God more than by renouncing our worldly selves as much as a thousand times a day to enjoy even a single moment with Him.   This doesn't mean we must ignore the duties of the world forever; that would be impossible.  Let prudence be our guide.  However, I do believe that it is a common mistake of Spirit-filled people not to leave the cares of the world periodically to praise God in their spirits and to rest in the peace of His divine presence for a few moments."

I pray that 2018 would be a year of resting in His presence.   Not rushed or hurried.     That our business would be an inconvenience to spending time in His presence, rather than the other way around, and that we would choose to stop a thousand times a day if necessary to be with Him, thank Him, praise Him, and worship Him.