Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. Psalm 16:5 (NIV)
What do you guard? You know, what do you protect and take care of?
Some of us guard our money. Often we guard our image. I guard time with my kids. When I am near them, I guard my grandchildren. My oldest grandson guards some of his toys so his younger brother won’t play with them. Some of us guard our responsibilities so others don’t take away how we feel fulfilled.
I am really terrible about guarding my time. I frequently have too much to do and not enough time to rest and relax. That causes very busy days and moments when I am not sure how I will accomplish my tasks. Some of those tasks are God given. There are times when things come and I know they are from Him and I need to do them.
All of life’s activities, whether they are self-imposed, other imposed or God imposed can make life feel just pain overwhelming.
There is one thing I have learned to guard that is essential to walking through this life; my time with God. You see, if I spend time doing that each day, if I set aside time to stop, be still and listen, all the rest falls into place. On the days when things are so chaotic that I feel like I am at my wit’s end, I’m trying to stop, pray and ask Him “What should I do next?” I keep doing this throughout the day and as the day wanes to an end, I have gotten done what I need to do.
I guard my time with God more than I guard anything else. This is the compass that sets my course. It is the sanity in the middle of chaos; the calm in the middle of the storm. Without it, I would be lost.
Guarding your God time doesn’t come naturally. It’s a habit learned. I am still learning. Luckily, God is a very patient teacher.