Seeking quiet time is this noisy place is a struggle. The rest that is offered me when I seek the quiet is F-R-E-E. All I have to do is just receive it.
I love it when my kids sleep. I love the noise that we can create when we are making memories and enjoying family time, too. Oh, how I love the quiet though. When their little peepers shut, their breathing slows, and they drift off to dreamland.
I have a friend whose two kiddos are the same age as mine (under 6). She told me once that they take three-hour naps on Sunday afternoons. That would be heaven to me! My oldest doesn't take a nap unless we let her stay up late the night before, which is almost never because we pay dearly for that the next day (hence the need for a nap). My youngest takes two-hour naps at daycare during the week...I'm still trying to get them to give me their secret.
Most days (if I don't really wear them out for a couple hours at the park), they fight sleep. I'm not talking about a bedtime routine struggle. They fight letting go and receiving the rest their little bodies require. I've got a couple of prize-fighters, too. Sometimes it seems they literally "pass out" as they wiggle under the sheets up until the last bit of energy is expended. Then, my quiet time starts.
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)
It gets wearisome looking for ways to squeeze quiet out of the hectic world. When the kids fall asleep at night, I am also exhausted. It would be so easy to roll over and turn out the light. I used to do that. And then I would lay there. For hours. Carrying my burdens to bed, fretting and not getting any rest at all really.
Now, in my evening quiet time, I give those burdens to Jesus. He teaches me how to let go of the heavy yoke and just receive the One that is easy to bear. He gives me rest for my soul when I just receive it. Sometimes I wake up in the night and there is a sick child, or a telephone ringing, or a storm outside my window. And Jesus is right there at the edge of my bed. Offering gentleness and a heart of love that has taught me how to respond to life the way I was designed to respond - peacefully.
Will you receive this rest today? When you have a break in the business of the day, before you mark off that next thing on your "To Do" list...just stop and take a moment to bow your head and close your eyes. Pray and ask the Lord to take your burdens and cast them into the sea. That is what He promises to do. Believe it, receive it, and claim it each day. Then you will find rest and the next time you seek quiet, you may just find it a whole lot easier.
Enjoy the quiet moments where you find them today - I'd love to hear how you are doing!
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Days 12 & 13 Season of Quiet - Personal Quiet Time (Part 2)
Sorry if you came by looking for a post yesterday. I am on the mend from my weekend cold/hay fever (the pollen count is high already here in GA). Also, lots of personal distractions prevented me from sitting long enough at the computer to post. So, here are my thoughts for days 12 and 13 of my Season of Quiet.
You may be feeling the stress of the world creeping in, too. Earthquakes, tsunamis, wars and rumors of wars, all of these and more remind me of 1 Peter 5:8 which says, Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.(NLT) Also, Matthew 24:42, Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
We press on through each new day, in the middle of the devil's warfare. He does anything he can to keep us from finding Truth and Peace. His demons know they are running out of time to turn humans away from God. They swoop in when we are vulnerable, when we take our eyes off the heavens where the Master Designer is pulling His plan together with or without our submission. We so easily pluck the lies from the world when we do not have the Truth hidden in our hearts. (See Psalm 119:11. This is a great first scripture for memorization!)
Can you feel the Spirit tugging on your heart strings? Do you hear Someone knocking on the door of your heart? You can't put your finger on it, but you know there is something more than what you are living. I felt that way for years, not understanding that I didn't have to be in a church building to find what I was seeking. We are all separated from God by our sin, since God is perfect and can not be in the presence of sin. However, Jesus is our High Priest, and brings us closer to our Heavenly Father through his intercession. He intercedes night and day on our behalf even while we are still sinning. We simply need to humbly accept and trust His redemptive Grace to come to the Father and receive our inheritance in Heaven.
Recently, I did trust and accept Jesus as my Savior in the presence of my pastor. (I promise to present my full testimony before this journey is over.) Now, I seek God's face every day by meditating on His word (The Bible), and lifting my prayers up to Him in my daily quiet time. As I've said before, this makes a huge difference as I go about the business of my day. Anxiety lessens, peace settles in, I feel more than a conqueror! This is why we are intentionally looking for quiet in the days leading up to Easter.
I have been reading through the Bible since January of this year. In my Old Testament reading, I began to envy the children of Israel, with their visible direction of the Lord in a cloud by day or fire by night. We have something more than they had though. We have the life, teachings, and testimony of Jesus. Not only does that give us direction, but allows us to more fully understand the character of God. This is what we are intentionally meditating on in our personal quiet time.
How do we do this? I have given you a few suggestions so far in my Season of Quiet for beginning to focus on where and when you can start finding quiet in your day. These are different for everyone. You may be a morning person and get up early each day with your journal and a cup of tea before heading out into the world. You may be a night owl and like to relax after a long day in your easy chair with a good book. Maybe both morning and evening meditation sound appealing. If you can start and end the day with quiet meditation, kudos to you! If you are just starting out this habit though, a consistent and set aside quality time each day is most important.
Our model for quality time with God comes from Jesus. We find that Jesus prayed in "solitary" and "lonely" places (Mark 1:35 and Luke 5:16). He prayed in a posture of reverence and submission (Matthew 26:39). He gave us an outline for the words we should use when we pray in what we refer to as "The Lord's Prayer" (Matthew 6:9-13). In addition to meditating and memorizing scripture, prayer is how we seek God in our quiet time.
So, Part 2 of this theme on finding your personal quiet time has given you some ideas for What, When, Where, and How. We also reviewed Why intentionally seeking quiet in our daily life is important. The most important question is Who are we doing this for in the first place? Is it for ourselves? Not when you think about it. In quiet prayer and meditation, we recognize the Source of our strength, the Power behind our purpose, and the need to relinquish our plans to His plans. The resulting blessing to us is that He is an ever present help, our strong tower, a fortress when we're weak. And He came to redeem us and offer us an eternal life beyond this mortal one! A life where we will fully commune with Him face to face. Without "street noise". In quiet adoration and triumphant worship. Can I get an AMEN?!
As I seek out my own quiet times, I can't promise to post every day here at Life Beyond PBJ. I am doing all of this without an outline, only as I am moved to write. So, I hope you continue to follow along and anticipate what we will share together here for the next several weeks. I'd love to hear from you in the comments.
Take care and enjoy the quiet moments you find today!
You may be feeling the stress of the world creeping in, too. Earthquakes, tsunamis, wars and rumors of wars, all of these and more remind me of 1 Peter 5:8 which says, Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.(NLT) Also, Matthew 24:42, Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
We press on through each new day, in the middle of the devil's warfare. He does anything he can to keep us from finding Truth and Peace. His demons know they are running out of time to turn humans away from God. They swoop in when we are vulnerable, when we take our eyes off the heavens where the Master Designer is pulling His plan together with or without our submission. We so easily pluck the lies from the world when we do not have the Truth hidden in our hearts. (See Psalm 119:11. This is a great first scripture for memorization!)
Can you feel the Spirit tugging on your heart strings? Do you hear Someone knocking on the door of your heart? You can't put your finger on it, but you know there is something more than what you are living. I felt that way for years, not understanding that I didn't have to be in a church building to find what I was seeking. We are all separated from God by our sin, since God is perfect and can not be in the presence of sin. However, Jesus is our High Priest, and brings us closer to our Heavenly Father through his intercession. He intercedes night and day on our behalf even while we are still sinning. We simply need to humbly accept and trust His redemptive Grace to come to the Father and receive our inheritance in Heaven.
Recently, I did trust and accept Jesus as my Savior in the presence of my pastor. (I promise to present my full testimony before this journey is over.) Now, I seek God's face every day by meditating on His word (The Bible), and lifting my prayers up to Him in my daily quiet time. As I've said before, this makes a huge difference as I go about the business of my day. Anxiety lessens, peace settles in, I feel more than a conqueror! This is why we are intentionally looking for quiet in the days leading up to Easter.
I have been reading through the Bible since January of this year. In my Old Testament reading, I began to envy the children of Israel, with their visible direction of the Lord in a cloud by day or fire by night. We have something more than they had though. We have the life, teachings, and testimony of Jesus. Not only does that give us direction, but allows us to more fully understand the character of God. This is what we are intentionally meditating on in our personal quiet time.
How do we do this? I have given you a few suggestions so far in my Season of Quiet for beginning to focus on where and when you can start finding quiet in your day. These are different for everyone. You may be a morning person and get up early each day with your journal and a cup of tea before heading out into the world. You may be a night owl and like to relax after a long day in your easy chair with a good book. Maybe both morning and evening meditation sound appealing. If you can start and end the day with quiet meditation, kudos to you! If you are just starting out this habit though, a consistent and set aside quality time each day is most important.
Our model for quality time with God comes from Jesus. We find that Jesus prayed in "solitary" and "lonely" places (Mark 1:35 and Luke 5:16). He prayed in a posture of reverence and submission (Matthew 26:39). He gave us an outline for the words we should use when we pray in what we refer to as "The Lord's Prayer" (Matthew 6:9-13). In addition to meditating and memorizing scripture, prayer is how we seek God in our quiet time.
So, Part 2 of this theme on finding your personal quiet time has given you some ideas for What, When, Where, and How. We also reviewed Why intentionally seeking quiet in our daily life is important. The most important question is Who are we doing this for in the first place? Is it for ourselves? Not when you think about it. In quiet prayer and meditation, we recognize the Source of our strength, the Power behind our purpose, and the need to relinquish our plans to His plans. The resulting blessing to us is that He is an ever present help, our strong tower, a fortress when we're weak. And He came to redeem us and offer us an eternal life beyond this mortal one! A life where we will fully commune with Him face to face. Without "street noise". In quiet adoration and triumphant worship. Can I get an AMEN?!
As I seek out my own quiet times, I can't promise to post every day here at Life Beyond PBJ. I am doing all of this without an outline, only as I am moved to write. So, I hope you continue to follow along and anticipate what we will share together here for the next several weeks. I'd love to hear from you in the comments.
Take care and enjoy the quiet moments you find today!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Day 3 - Season of Quiet: Kick Caffeine to the Curb
If you are my Facebook friend, you may have seen my status updates about a Season of Quiet. This is my original idea from about 4 years ago when I turned off the car radio for the days leading up to Easter (sometimes referred to as Lent or the Lenten Season). I am not Catholic, but I see and have experienced benefits to the rituals my Catholic friends practice during Lent. I have found the 40 or so days in this season to be a time of quiet focus and transformation of heart. It prepares me to more fully embrace and appreciate the true meaning of Easter by the time I'm worshipping on Easter Sunday.
You will find that this is a spiritual journey for me, but not necessarily religious as each day's goal for seeking quiet is personal to me and not according to the creed or doctrine of a church. You may find that some days I just need encouragement or to be in the Word, so I will only approach that as the suggestion for quietness.
I practice my own version of "fasting" and sacrifice, finding different things in my life that turn me to God when I give them up. This year I decided to take things a step further and really look for more of the quietness that I first experienced when I gave up radio. I'd like to share those things with you here in this blog. Maybe you will find a shared experience helpful in finding some quiet in your life as well.
To review, Day 1(Ash Wednesday) of Season of Quiet started with my official (now ceremonial) turning off of the car radio. This is really easy for me now, since I have really never gone back to being a radio listener. I do enjoy the occasional uplifting music on some of the Christian music stations, but mostly I find the FM stations seem very loud now and the AM talk stations stir up my inner quietness too much. Try just turning down the volume during your morning commute as a start. Even if you don't work and are just running errands. Crack the window and hear the church bells as you drive through downtown anywhere. Encourage your children to listen for the signs of spring (birds, wind, rain, etc.) Talk to God. Make your mental checklist of most important tasks for the day. All without the noise of ads, depressing news, and loud DJ's talking over your favorite song!
Day 2 of Season of Quiet continued with getting up 30 minutes earlier to start the day. OK, those of you who know me, can you say...wow?! I struggle to not hit the snooze button on most days. Not a "morning person"here. However, sometimes the quietest part of the day is before dawn. Have you ever found that to be true? Try getting up with the sun on your next beach vacation. The waves crashing on the shore even seem to add to the quiet. I prayerfully approached this the night before and found myself looking forward to seeing what God had in store for me when the alarm sounded. I don't know if I can turn rising early into a habit, but today the payoff was worth it! Dropped off my little kid in plenty of time to eat breakfast with her class (so much better without the rushing). Then my big kid and I had time before the first bell rang to talk about one of her fave subjects - Heaven. Had my quiet time with God in the car before getting to my desk on time. What a great start to the day! This is where the quiet is...this is where we find LIFE!
Now Day 3 of Season of Quiet is going to be an even bigger challenge than getting up a few minutes earlier. I don't know when exactly I became addicted to caffeine, but there it is in truth. Coffee, lattes, and diet cola all often "get me through the day". Caffeine's a drug and I'm kicking it to the curb, Lord help me. I plan to sub hot herbal tea (naturally decaf) for the warm drinks and water for the colas. So, how does this add to the quiet you say? Better sleep for one. Focus on good health for another (trickle down effects from this I hope). Lots of Prayer. We'll see what else, but this one will force me to turn to my Source of true strength.
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
Check back tomorrow for an update. Hope you are enjoying quiet moments where you find them. Comments welcome and appreciated!
You will find that this is a spiritual journey for me, but not necessarily religious as each day's goal for seeking quiet is personal to me and not according to the creed or doctrine of a church. You may find that some days I just need encouragement or to be in the Word, so I will only approach that as the suggestion for quietness.
I practice my own version of "fasting" and sacrifice, finding different things in my life that turn me to God when I give them up. This year I decided to take things a step further and really look for more of the quietness that I first experienced when I gave up radio. I'd like to share those things with you here in this blog. Maybe you will find a shared experience helpful in finding some quiet in your life as well.
To review, Day 1(Ash Wednesday) of Season of Quiet started with my official (now ceremonial) turning off of the car radio. This is really easy for me now, since I have really never gone back to being a radio listener. I do enjoy the occasional uplifting music on some of the Christian music stations, but mostly I find the FM stations seem very loud now and the AM talk stations stir up my inner quietness too much. Try just turning down the volume during your morning commute as a start. Even if you don't work and are just running errands. Crack the window and hear the church bells as you drive through downtown anywhere. Encourage your children to listen for the signs of spring (birds, wind, rain, etc.) Talk to God. Make your mental checklist of most important tasks for the day. All without the noise of ads, depressing news, and loud DJ's talking over your favorite song!
Day 2 of Season of Quiet continued with getting up 30 minutes earlier to start the day. OK, those of you who know me, can you say...wow?! I struggle to not hit the snooze button on most days. Not a "morning person"here. However, sometimes the quietest part of the day is before dawn. Have you ever found that to be true? Try getting up with the sun on your next beach vacation. The waves crashing on the shore even seem to add to the quiet. I prayerfully approached this the night before and found myself looking forward to seeing what God had in store for me when the alarm sounded. I don't know if I can turn rising early into a habit, but today the payoff was worth it! Dropped off my little kid in plenty of time to eat breakfast with her class (so much better without the rushing). Then my big kid and I had time before the first bell rang to talk about one of her fave subjects - Heaven. Had my quiet time with God in the car before getting to my desk on time. What a great start to the day! This is where the quiet is...this is where we find LIFE!
Now Day 3 of Season of Quiet is going to be an even bigger challenge than getting up a few minutes earlier. I don't know when exactly I became addicted to caffeine, but there it is in truth. Coffee, lattes, and diet cola all often "get me through the day". Caffeine's a drug and I'm kicking it to the curb, Lord help me. I plan to sub hot herbal tea (naturally decaf) for the warm drinks and water for the colas. So, how does this add to the quiet you say? Better sleep for one. Focus on good health for another (trickle down effects from this I hope). Lots of Prayer. We'll see what else, but this one will force me to turn to my Source of true strength.
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
Check back tomorrow for an update. Hope you are enjoying quiet moments where you find them. Comments welcome and appreciated!
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