Guarded

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.

Where Is Your Tent of Meeting?

7 It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

8 Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside. 9 As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. 11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting. Exodus 33:7-11 (NLT)

It was Moses’ practice. When the Israelites set up camp, Moses would set up the Tent of Meeting. Whenever they moved (which was a lot), the Tent of Meeting would get set up outside the camp. And he would go talk to God there.

Moses was one busy guy. He was leading hundreds of thousands of people. He was responsible for them and everything that entailed. Not to mention that well, people are people and they can be challenging at times. I began to wonder about the journey Moses was on. Day in and day out. What an overwhelming job he had. Too much to do, not enough time. More than a human could possibly handle.

But Moses was not in it alone. God was in it with him and Moses throughout his journey spent alone time with God. He met him at the Tent of Meeting regularly to talk. He would disappear inside the tent and spend time lingering and listening and sharing. It was there he would get his inspiration. It was there God would share his wisdom and peace. It was in this place with God that Moses would once again be filled with the courage to continue.

Where is your Tent of Meeting? Do you have one? If you don’t, you should get one. We all need one-on-one time with God. You can’t accomplish your purpose without it.

Listening In The Middle Of The Noise

15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Galatians 1:15-17 (NIV)

This week, this passage really spoke to me. I have a big decision to make. Huge. And I know, the only One I need to hear from is God.

So often, we have decisions to make in our lives. Some are big, some are small. My human tendency is to go ask my family and friends. Sure, I pray about them but it’s not the same as what Paul is saying here. He is saying that instead of going to share what God was telling him, he went the opposite direction. He went to be alone with God.

God speaks to us all the time but I think especially when it’s quiet and we are alone with him. We need to be intentional about calming the noise that distracts our hearing and focus on what God could be telling us. Maybe part of this is getting into the habit if blocking out the distractions ourselves so that we are always praying in the midst of the chaos and tuning our ears to the still small voice.

I believe this is a discipline that we, as Christians, in this very chaotic, noisy world need to develop. While we are in the middle of a conversation with someone, pray about what God wants us to say. When the calendar is full and there doesn’t seem to be time to breathe, pray about God’s plan for our day. When crazy hits the fan and you need wisdom, pray.

But as you are praying, listen. Don’t just send the prayer up and proceed on your own. Turn your hearing toward the voice that is speaking to it. Focus on what you know to be true and Christ driven in your thoughts.

We need to stop thinking Jesus isn’t talking to us. We need to stop thinking we can’t hear him. If God can speak through death to call Christ to life, he can get through to our dulled brains. By the way, once you hear, you have to obey. Maybe that’s why we don’t really want to listen….because we don’t really want to do what God is saying in the first place. Just a thought…..