If you are anything like me you find yourself slowly emerging from a dizzying spell of working/shopping/planning/cooking that these last few months demanded. Please don’t get me wrong, despite the busyness of the Holidays, it is still my favorite time of year. All the extra work is worth it to me but there is something that I had taken notice of this year and I’m sure it has also been an issue in the past.
The lack of time.
There was hardly any time to get it all done. I had to be strategic and schedule out my days and weeks so I could fit everything in. Still, there were some things I had to turn down or say no to. That leads me to the topic of this post.
Margin. As in, that time we have allotted in each day for spending time with God.
Either we are embracing it in our Christian walks or we are lacking it.
We Are Distracted Every Day
Life is fast-paced and exhausting. Our schedules are full and we hardly have time to squeeze in that quality-time with family that we hear so much about.
Which leads me to the point of my post. If we aren’t leaving time for family, how are we allowing time for God? How important is our God time when it really comes down to it?
Staying immersed in the Word is imperative and the Word of God tells us so.
“But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
Matthew 4:4 NLT
Since we know that every word written in the Bible is Spirit-breathed and not written by what mere men came up with themselves, we can be assured that when we are reading the Word, we are hearing from God Himself.
With that being said, it’s more than words on paper. We have an opportunity to be in the presence of our Savior on a daily basis so there should be a yearning and desire in our hearts to do so. Not only to glean wisdom but to be nourished and sustained.
There are things we can initiate in our daily lives that establish margin and create a routine of being at His feet.
In theory, it should be easy to block out time in your schedule and save it for the Lord but it’s more challenging than it seems. Our flesh fights against it and the enemy tries to distract us from it.
The Margin I Have Created
I have found that if I am not intentional about my God time then it simply won’t exist in my day-to-day. Each day I have to carve out time that I know it will be quiet with no interruptions and be emphatic about it.
I have now grown so used to this framed out part of my day that it has become a habit for me to reach for my Bible (or Bible App). My God-time starts in the morning when I wake up (4:20am) and is also before I go to bed. Sure, it can really take a lot of effort some days when I truly would love to just sleep some more but I find that once I start reading and praying I sometimes don’t even want to stop. His words jump off the page and can truly speak into what I’m already anticipating about my day. His Word is remarkable! It is alive!
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Hebrews 4:12 NLT
This time is what works out best for me helps me to not only start my day with God but to end it with Him as well.
I’ll find that throughout my day I will reference the verses I read that morning and they will speak into my current situation. I suddenly have the wisdom and peace about circumstances that I may not have had if I hadn’t read those scriptures beforehand. I then know how I should pray and how I should proceed.
Establishing Margin So We Can Hear From God Daily Share on X
Carving Out Time in Your Day for God
Everyone’s day looks different and the time I have allotted in my day as God’s time may not work for you. Your quiet time might be in the middle of the day when your littles are napping or it might be right before dinner as your children are doing homework.
No matter the dynamic of your home life, there is time-frame that you can designate it as your own God-time. It might take planning. It might take some intentional and deliberate changes but you CAN make it happen.
And you SHOULD.
It will be the most rewarding thing you do in your Christian walk as our time with God sets us up for our days, weeks, and years to come. Staying saturated in the word will not return void.
Investing our time in the Lord will produce in us an abundant way of living. That is when we truly experience overflow. Share on XHow To Create Elbowroom in Your Day
1. Create a Space
If you don’t have a designated space to pray and read the Word then I suggest you start here. Set up a spot where you can get some comfortable quiet time. My space is my bedroom where I have the luxury of closing my door. If I’m not there, then I’m in my front living room enjoying the sunlight from a large window as I read.
I have heard of friends using their car as their quiet space and others who even have the blessing of owning rooms or closets that they have designated as prayer rooms.
2. Schedule a Time
Figure out what time works best for you each day so that you can make it a daily habit to meet with the Lord consistently during that particular time-frame.
Take a look at your commitments and plan around them. Ask yourself when are you most relaxed? How long should you commit?
I recommend that you frame out enough time in your day to really dig in. Give yourself leeway so that if the Lord is really speaking to you, you have that flexibility to lean in and soak up what He is saying. Try not to let anything encroach into your time with God.
3. Take Away Distractions
This is the hard one…
If you have a tv in your room…turn it off.
If you have a door to your room…close it.
Turn your phone off so that you are not tempted to grab it and check social media.
If you are using a Bible App then you will need to discipline yourself to staying in the word during your designated time. I know. I know. It’s hard.
But it CAN and SHOULD be done if you would like to hear better from the Lord. Noise can drown out His voice. Remember…
His voice is a still small one. If you are distracted you may miss Him altogether.
Saying No to the Good So We Can Say Yes to the Better
Once you take the steps listed above and understand how rewarding it is to prioritize the Word of God you will experience growth like never before.
Sometimes it means we will have to say no to the good things just so we have time for the better things. The BEST thing is God’s Word and His truth is waiting to be grasped by you. When we seek Him, we will find Him.
Today I am featuring Kendall Norman as her post truly gets right to the heart of the matter of listening to other voices instead of God’s.
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