Today’s Reading: Isaiah 14:1-17:14
Last night I was pestering my husband to take me out on a date this Friday night because I wanted to just get away from it all for a few hours. His response “I don’t think I can get away, I have so much to do.”
How often do we get to that point where we have so much on our “to do” list that we allow our to do list to tell us what to do? I don’t know about you, but that’s where I am right now! I had this vision of grandeur where I would wave Sean off to work and the kids off to school and then I could actually get some things done around here because there wouldn’t be anybody here to mess them up anymore… WRONG! Because now I’m not even here either! But maybe that’s part of my stress too. I’ve spent the last five years practically locked up in this house waiting for something to happen and now all the sudden it is and I’m hanging on to the doorframe with my fingernails going “WAIT! I’m not ready yet!” So here I am this morning waving goodbye to the school bus, armpit deep in to do list items running through my head when I stepped off the curb and just started walking. At first I was just walking the dog because that’s what I had been doing every morning after the bus left, I was outside already anyway right? But by the time I got to the end of the first block it hit me, this, right now, could be the time out I need! It was a beautiful morning, the air was crisp enough to be wearing jeans and my favorite sweater coat, the birds were chirping their merry song, the swift little click of a tiny dog’s toenails hitting the pavement as fast as he could walk, it was music pushing me along to just pray and clear my mind of all the stress and gunk that has built up over the last few days. Nothing that major, in fact most of it all has been very good news, but yet I still felt so overwhelmed by it all. Just the sheer mass of things I “have” to do was mounting and becoming insurmountable. The fact that they are all good things, things that I enjoy doing, hasn’t seemed to make any difference it’s simply been my lack of any quiet time.
Last night in telling my husband that I just wanted some quiet time with him, I meant it. More than I even knew. Because as much as I love all the fun things that I’ve been filling my days with, I’ve been missing my quiet time with Jesus every day. Of all the things on the to do list that “have” to get done, that seems to be the one that gets left out the most often and I’m really feeling it today. Right now, what I’m longing for more than anything else is a day with Jesus all to myself; just me and my Bible, a notebook and a pen under a shady tree in our yard on a nice breezy day with a tall glass of ice water. I miss talking with Him, hearing from Him and sharing in His presence, I miss sharing in His revelation in His word. I miss HIM! And just like I’m longing to just spend time with Sean, the two of us in a quiet place maybe not even really talking about anything but just sitting together in silence, I’m longing for the same thing with Jesus. Life has been fun, but it’s just feels empty without those quiet times out with them – away from the to do list in our own little world just the two of us.
*******************************
I just logged onto Biblegateway.com to get the link for today’s reading and Psalm 94:18-19 was their verse of the day. Does my God love me or what????? I am so blessed!!! “When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul.” Words to describe completely how I am feeling!!! I LOVE YOU LORD!!!!!
Tamar Knochel 