Spending Time with God: Not a Have to but a Get To
Learning how to spend time with Jesus is a topic that has been heavy on my heart recently. I know I am not the only one that has had the desire to grow with Jesus but lacking the self discipline to make it happen. There have also been times where I have been tired of the same read, pray, read and pray again cycle that often fills our Jesus. Something I always share with people getting to know Jesus is that your favorite way to spend time with God is God’s favorite way to spend time with you. Jesus doesn’t want our time with him to be a “have to” but a “get to.” He wants you to experience the joy he experiences in the little moments he gets with you. When I think about God’s desire to be with me I think about all the things he did to get here. I think about how he left the comfort of his home in heaven to experience the pain of our world. I think about the weight of my sin and your sin that he carried in order to defeat the enemy. He didn’t do these things because he was bored in heaven and needed action, he did them because he knew it was the only way to forever do life with you.
I want us to think about the presence of God. I often forget how near God is to me in my everyday life. How close he is to me when I am driving down the road, shopping in the grocery store, even now typing this blog. When Jesus died on the cross, rose, and went back to heaven he left a helper here with us. This helper is an extension of him called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn’t separate from Jesus but it is actually him. Because of the power of God, his word tells us, that the Holy Spirit dwells within our hearts. Because the Holy Spirit is in our hearts, that’s why we don’t have to ask for things like love, joy, and peace, we just get to recognize that we already have it. God’s word also tells us that as we seek God and draw near to him, God in the same way draws near to us. Remember that in the little moments God is there with you but he doesn’t just want one moment with you, he wants all moments with you.
Moments with God can become a have to when we feel like He is not actually going to show up. Like your bible reading, prayer time, worship is for nothing. He is always present even in the little moments of your day so let that inspire you to spend more time with him. Today I want to share with you a few ways that you can make mundane moments, encounters with God. Your next drive to the doctor can be a moment of worship, your next trip to a coffee shop can be a moment of blessing, the “little” moments in life are moments God still has the desire of being a part of.
He is always ready to speak to you
I have a friend who is so desperately seeking God but can get so frustrated that she isn’t hearing from him. Haven’t we all been there? When you are doing what is right, you are going to the right places, church, campus ministry, but nothing is shifting. A meeting with God isn’t bound to a spiritual place here on earth. One way I love to practice hearing from God is through moments of stillness. This summer I tried practicing setting a timer and laying in stillness for 10 minutes. Sometimes God speaks and other times I just got a good power nap but it was still the practice of waiting for a word from God that has changed my relationship with him. Before you head into your next presentation take 1 extra minute to sit in the stillness of God and let him speak. God speaks to me a lot in the car, at a red light. Turn down the noise and listen for the voice of a feeling in your heart that is the Holy Spirit. You know God’s voice and when you second guess it, know that you are getting near it. God is ready to speak to you, create a moment of stillness with Him.
Don’t walk alone
God’s word tells us that two is better than one, if two is better than one then how much more is walking with Christ in community better than walking it by yourself. Don’t get me wrong, moments in solitude with God are important, even Jesus needed moments alone with God, but it is not restricted to just that. On the podcast this week we talked about how to do life with Jesus and your friends. Let your friends in on what God is doing in your life and then ask them what God is doing in their life. Pick one day a week to meet at a coffee shop with your roommate and read the word. Discuss together what you are reading and learning. Find a friend to go to church together, hit up a church and brunch moment. I love to ride with friends to church events because on the way home we get to talk about what God is stirring in our hearts. God says to proclaim our testimonies which means tell of what he has done or is doing. There is no better person to do that with than a close friend or mentor. Don’t walk alone but do life with Jesus and your friends.
Your favorite way to spend time with God is His favorite way to spend time with you
You have heard me say it a lot and I will continue to, there is no bad way to spend time with God. If you are seeking his presence, whether it is through the word, on a walk, or serving others, you are spending time with God. We flee from what is boring. Why would God make life boring with him? How do you do what you love unto God, for God? I may say a prayer before I start an activity, telling God that this workout is for him. I may ask God how I can serve the people in the environment around me. I may just simply say God I want to live your will today, have your way in all I do. Anytime we invite God in, he shows up. He will show up in the mundane moments and bring sparkle to the dull parts of life.
There are so many ways we can get creative with what we do with Jesus, and everyone of them he loves. Because he loves you and he loves being with you. Will you let him meet you in the mundane this week?
XO Scarlet
