Developing the Habit of Daily Quiet Time No Matter What Season You Are In
“If I just had more time, I could have a quiet time with God everyday. But there just isn’t enough time in a day for me to consistently meet with God when there are so many other things I have to do each day.”
Have you ever said something like this to yourself or someone else?
Time. It is a fickle thing. We don’t get any more or any less of it than anyone else. We receive the same amount of time each and every day.
When talking about time, we quote Ephesians 5:15-16 almost ad nauseam.
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
However, as easy as it is to glaze over this portion of scripture due to familiarity, we cannot deny that it is a succinct exhortation to use time wisely, and that it takes deliberate thought and intention to use time well for the purpose of living a life pleasing to the Lord.
I imagine that most of us believe that time is a commodity that we shouldn’t squander, and perhaps we even acknowledge that time is a gift from the Lord, to be used wisely, and to be scheduled diligently for the work of ministry He has called us to.
As Christians, we know that spending time in God’s word on a daily basis is paramount.
But why don’t we do it every day, or at least more often?
Many of us carry around the guilt of “not being in the word the way we should.” We complain that we don’t have enough time in the day to fit everything in, and too often our time with the Lord gets pushed out for lesser things.
However, I am convinced that the woman who is equipped to love God’s Word will not shirk the gift of meeting with Him. She will crave the time with Him, look forward to her time in the Word, and even cease letting anything stand in her way of time in the Word!
Yes, even the season of babies and toddlers and no sleep. Yes, even then, tired, weary mama. Even then.
It’s a matter of perspective.
We need to steal away for quiet time with the Lord. Jesus did this during His earthly ministry, went away to a quiet place.
Quiet time is truly something to seek after and to make a priority, but … and here’s the big BUT!
Jesus was often interrupted in His time away. So, interruptions are part of it, and should even be expected!
There are seasons when fitting in a five minute Bible reading feels like no small accomplishment. There are seasons when we have to rearrange our ideals a little, and sneak in some Bible reading when we’re nursing a baby, or riding in a car, or while children are loudly slurping Cheerios from a spoon.
There are seasons when we have to open our Bibles with grandchildren underfoot, or while waiting on the phone for the pharmacist to take us off hold so we can refill a prescription, or while waiting for the doctor at our parent’s check-up.
There are seasons when we stay in our car for two more minutes before unloading the chairs for the little league game, or taking time during our lunch break to read God’s word instead of scrolling Facebook.
I think far too often we think we have little control over our time. It wasn’t until I truly understood the point of my daily quiet time, seeing it rightly and through the lens of scripture, did I actually begin making my quiet time a priority.
There are seasons when it’s hard, but far too often I neglect the gift of meeting with the Lord. I make excuses about work and sleep and obligations “out of my control.”
I let the tyranny of the urgent and a severe lack of discipline (or better yet, a severe lack of understanding of my need for Jesus) stand in the way of some precious time I could be investing in my relationship with the Lord.
So, be honest with yourself about the time you’re spending devoted to God’s Word.
Are you in a season of your own making that’s keeping you distracted and away from God’s word? Call distractions and busyness with the wrong things what it is – sin. Confess it to Jesus, and then start living in obedience asking Him to lead, guide, and teach you.
Are you in a season when your schedule is truly chosen for you based on a season of life? Then ask God to help you grasp those slivers of time that come your way and maximize them to their fullest. Ask Him to protect your time of study and give you wisdom for when you need to close the Good Book for the day and be His hands and feet instead or simply rest in His grace.
In every season, we get the choice.
We get to choose our priorities. We get to choose how we will spend the minutes of our days.
Therefore, developing the habit of a daily quiet time with God is a matter of the heart, not a matter of how much time we do or don’t have.
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What about you? Have you been making excuses in this area of your life? What is one thing you can do today to start moving in the direction that leads to life?
I was completely aghast that you shared you might have wasted years just letting life happen…I imagined you as this caring, focused and proactive woman managing each year of your life quite brilliantly! Thank you for this honesty as there have been many a time when I believed I couldn’t possibly be half as together as you! Giving myself encouragement instead of belittling was just something I never thought to do! Thankyou for this gentle reminder to forgive myself as well as to always nurture a positive outlook….so much easier after reading your entry this evening!