It's about time

I believe that the internet can be a safe, life giving, soul encouraging place.

I believe that the internet can be a place to be transparent and honest for good. 

I believe as a church we should be honest and real in all facets of our lives, including in our little corner of the internet. 

I believe this is a place for honesty and reality to come together to form words and phrases for God's glory and the betterment of this church. 

Because I believe these things to be true, I can be honest with you in this space and confess that I haven't been in the Word with any consistency for about six months.

I can tell you all my excuses; a busy schedule has me doing other things, that an extra half hour of sleep is a necessity, and that live is moving so much that just to sit in silence would be “nicer.” 

But, none of that is worth it in the long run. None of those excuses are soul sustaining, life giving, or truth reveling.

Being busy is just a fact of life, but it is important to acknowledge its time and place. Sure, we will never not be busy in between all the school, laundry, family, work, PTA meetings and sick dogs, but I want to raise the question; are we allowing it to rob us of our time to break it all down and approach the Lord quietly and expectantly?  

I'll admit it. I have let my schedule corrupt my time with the Lord. I have chosen to glorify being busy, instead of zealously fighting for and carving out time with the Lord.

I am living a busy life, but that doesn't mean I can give up my ability to choose time in the Word.

Maybe at this point you too are questioning with me where we lost our battle against letting busy encroach on our quiet time. 

Listening and nodding along with Jeremy on Sunday mornings isn't enough. 

Playing Air 1 on our way to work and dropping the kids at school isn't enough. 

Pinning pretty pieces of scripture onto our Pinterest boards isn't enough.  

We shouldn't want those things to be enough. We should crave more, want more, fight for more. 

Our quiet time is sacred and not something to let busy strangle. 

We need to rally as a body of believers. Through social media, on Sunday mornings, or in coffee shops and tell it like it is. Be honest and fight together for our time with the Lord. We are called to be in community, hold each other accountable and spur one another on. 

But how are we supposed to spur one another on if we don't tell each other the realities?

So this is me, telling it like it is. I haven't been gleaning from the Word, i've let busy win, and I am choosing more from today on.

It's past time we hold each other accountable and fight for our time even if our lives are going 90 miles a minute. We need it. We are called to do it.  We will be better off for it.

As a church we are stronger when each of us commit daily to being in the Word and seeking the Lord. 

If you are already carving out time and sticking to that commitment, I commend you. If you are like me and needing to refocus, I appeal to you to stand with me. 

Let's choose to put our foot down and start today fresh.


-Clarissa Toll

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