To Do List

The doer in me wants to get all the items checked off the To Do List before doing what really matters. Last week I found myself in several waiting rooms completing the Appointment List for my daughter while she was on Spring Break. Today I am tempted to not write to focus on getting the next list taken care of. My husband’s car needs to be inspected. My car needs new tires and an oil change. Renewing my driver’s license in person completes the Driver’s To Do List with a bonus to clean them both inside and out.

It is easy to push writing aside to plan the best course of action and get these items checked off the list. It is more natural for me to lock in thought over the amount of money the current list will cost. The unfortunate reality is I’m not just pushing writing to the side. I am pushing God to the side and asking Him to wait. The reality is there will be another list after the Driver’s To Do List is complete. Then what?

What is it for you? Why do you tell God to hold on? I’m currently faced with putting car needs in front of my time with God. The Driver’s To Do List is very important and could cause expensive and unnecessary consequences if not completed in time. I have to ask myself if it is reason enough to ask God to wait. Is any list or item of importance enough to get so caught up we ignore God completely?

Writing is more than a collection of random words specific to one topic for me. It is where I meet the Holy Spirit. Writing compels me to read the Word of God and leaves me in anticipation of the next collection of words I write inspired by God. Writing helps me renew. Last week I wrote and shared a little about renewing with God. Before I go any further, I’d like you to take a moment and think. What are you tempted and distracted with resulting in asking God to wait?

Sometimes I feel a little sarcastic with God. Almost like a rude and out of line teenager. Embarrassingly I have even demonstrated a tired preschooler refusing to do what is expected. I know what is asked of me yet I don’t always want to push through my stubborn will. I want the results, but struggle to stay focused on the intentionality involved. Active Christianity is hard! I don’t mean to ask or even expect God to wait. It just kind of happens sometimes.

The world tells us to do as little work as possible and expect amazing results. My dad demonstrated differently for me. He worked tirelessly without ceasing for the amazing results. I could look to him to provide for me. I trusted and respected him because when he wasn’t working, he was spending time with the family. I didn’t want to disappoint him. I wanted to spend all the time I could with my dad when he was home. Sometimes when he left, I watched his work truck back out and drive away. I watched until he turned on the joining street and was out of site. After my mom received the call he was on his way home, I would sit and watch for him.

Having this as a child helps me relate my relationship with my dad to my Heavenly Father. I don’t want to disappoint God. I want to experience as much God as I can. When I am with Him, I am beyond satisfied and fulfilled. I even miss the presence of God when my stubborn will takes over. Even more, the thought of God hanging his head with dissatisfaction for my behavior, choices, actions and attitude is disheartening. I want to be a child of God that learns from mistakes and strives to be better. Not better in the eyes of those opinions that don’t matter, but the opinion of God and the people He put in my life to truly love me. For this, I have all the reason in the world to fight through my stubborn will and make important things a little less intrusive in my schedule.

Lock your heart around the Word of God.

Nothing and I mean nothing rewards and renews me like my time with the Lord. Even now I sit with the sounds of my husband typing away and talking business on the phone. The smallest things like sounds of my son crunching and chewing his pretzels can distract me. From time to time we even experience major melt down interruptions. Regardless of what goes on around me, my mind has to be focused on writing. I have to be intentional to come back after each distraction because there is no such thing as the perfect moment or the perfect time. God never expected perfect. Why do we think He does when it comes to the time we spend with Him? I love when I am engaged in writing beautifully for the Lord. Some things no one reads. Some collections of my words are shared publicly and some are saved for a bigger purpose. No matter the direction my words take, the focus must remain. Where my mind is, my heart follows. I am captivated how old words from the Bible have new meaning and spring new inspiration. The Godly renewing in me is beautiful and worth every moment I decided to say no to everything else.

So what does meeting with God look like for you? Not much perhaps. Believe it or not, there is always time. You have to be willing to say no to something a little less important so you can say yes to God. It is not always as complicated as we make it. It could be as simple as using the time we sit in carpool lines to open the Bible on our phone instead of our favorite and addicting game. You could turn your thoughts into something tangible you can see, read and look back on by journaling. Maybe you need to turn your ears to the gentle voice that reads the Bible from the phone app as opposed to music with bad message after bad message. Follow up by listening to good Christian music. A positive word followed by an inspiring message will properly set your mind to focus on God.

Maybe you need to give 30 minutes of Netflix up to reading some scripture. I’m not talking about just opening the Bible and reading where the pages fall and your eyes focus. Be more intentional. Get creative if you don’t know where to start. Netflix is already on. Perhaps watch an episode of The Bible and follow up with your Bible to read about what you just watched. Maybe you have a children’s Bible in the house. Read it (preferably with your children) and follow up with your Bible. Sometimes we just need a starting point. Being intentional and creative to seek your starting point is step one.

Perhaps you need more specific guidance and renewing. Maybe you are exhausted from raising kids, school, work or all of the above. The demands just keep coming. No matter how much you put in, it doesn’t seem to be enough. Try to Google bible verses on exhaustion. You will find several helpful and encouraging Bible verses to guide you to the right place in your own Bible. Maybe it will bring you to a Bible verse you have read many times over and this time it will have new meaning in your currently state of mind. Your search will also pull up images with Bible verses to help renew your mind and heart on things of the Lord.

There are so many different ways, books and tools to utilize in being intentional to get the most out of your time studying the Word of God for application. After all, what good is reading the Word of God if we don’t apply what we learn? For me in the past it has been taking lunch breaks with God. When my husband was only my boss years ago, he used to make fun of me for working on Bible studies during my lunch breaks. Now that he is my husband, he is thankful I took the time to renew with God. It has matured me in ways the world can’t. Time studying the Bible and the ways of God has made me a better wife. Not a perfect wife, but most certainly a better one. It has also matured my husband from making fun of Bible studies to one who is personally active in his own.

Things change. Currently step one is being intentional to take my Bible, a pencil and a lined notebook with me most everywhere I go. Step one is easy to remember and requires little action. It is in step two I find the renewing process take place because of purposeful action. When I actually use the tools, the writing process begins and the start of focused restoration commences. If I don’t have my notebook or Bible, I can use my phone. Removing excuses has been key for me. Remaining steadfast has always been essential in my walk with Christ. The tools are usually always there. It is up to me to use them.

Lord, help me and all who have read these words be more intentional to renew with you. May verses like Romans 12:2 be our standard way of thinking and the Bible be our rescue life preserver when we feel like we are drowning in the ugly of the world. God no matter the tools, resources or environment, I pray the Holy Spirit would help make our time meaningful and applicable. Without the Holy Spirit, it can all fall short. Please be present in our life and surround us with your loving peace. In Jesus perfect name I pray, Amen.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. – James 1:22 (ESV)

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. – Romans 12:2 (NLT)