I’ve been a Christian for a long time. However, I’ve always
struggled with maintaining a consistent “quiet time” – i.e., a personal, daily time
spent with the Lord via the Scriptures and prayer. I do reasonably well with
other areas of discipleship – regularly meeting in worship with fellow
believers, serving the church, encouraging others – and I’ve even arranged my
kids’ schedules to help them incorporate daily quiet time as a normative
practice. But, still, the habit often eludes me.
Part of my struggle is surely latent perfectionism, a weed
that sprouts up randomly in my various endeavors despite my ongoing efforts to
root it out. Thus, I wrestle with the demon that says, “If you can’t spend
three hours a day, don’t even bother starting,” or, “You’re just reading a few
verses and praying? You’re not studying whole chapters in the original Greek?
Pfft.”
Of course, some of my inconsistency has stemmed from genuine
busy-ness doing good things. Before my kids were born, I was a classroom
teacher, and I spent most of my free time every year modifying material to try
meeting my students’ varied individual needs. Then when I became a full-time
mom and my Irish-Twin girls were babies, my hands were very, very full. As they
grew into toddlerhood, I began doing in-home childcare to supplement our
income, so I regularly juggled the needs of half a dozen under-fives all day
long. And then I started homeschooling, which has understandably required a
great deal of time and effort.
But if truth be told, a big component of my struggle has simply
been a failure to properly prioritize what’s most important. Even in my busiest
seasons, I really have had enough time to quiet myself before God a little
while each day. But, instead, I’ve too often chosen mornings with a dose of
Matt Lauer or Fox & Friends, my kids’ afternoon rest time with Dr. Phil, and
evenings with my Facebook friends.
If you’re like me, you take advantage of annual events and seasonal
transitions to attempt change. So I’ve tried again since my family’s July
vacation to get this quiet time thing on track. My girls are old enough to get
breakfast themselves, so I’ve consciously chosen to use that time for God. I’ve
consciously chosen to leave the TV and computer off until after I’ve
prioritized time with Him. And I’ve consciously chosen to shoo away the pesky
buzzing of Perfectionism, who tries to convince me that my “measly” thirty
minutes “isn’t enough.” It’s a work in progress, but it’s working.
Do you struggle with me in this? If so, why not use this
upcoming “back to school season” which – though often hectic – is a natural
transitional time you might leverage to your advantage. First, decide which
time-waster needs pruning. Then push Perfectionism to the curb and just start –
even if it’s “just” a few verses and a brief devotional. Meeting our kids’
needs and serving others matters deeply, but we want to be authentic models of
spiritual growth for our children, and we need daily bread to keep doing good
works. Making daily time for God is what we need most of all. Are you with me
in trying again to become consistent?
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