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Blogs by Denise Buss
Time for God? 3/31/2016 6:32:02 AM
I’ve always liked to be doing something. That didn’t change when I became a Christian—until seven years into my walk with God, when I found myself wondering if I was still saved.
Let me back up for a moment. Twelve years ago I gave my life to Jesus. I not only gave Him my heart, I gave Him my time and energy. In other words, I served in the Church—a lot. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I spent so much of my free time serving God, I didn’t spend much time alone with God.
Three years later when I returned from China with Hannah, my life changed from busyness in the church to busyness at home. I not only stopped serving God at church, I also decreased my already limited time with Him. My prayer time became nearly extinct and if I read my Bible at all it was at the end of the day, when I was tired. These changes weren’t intentional, they were necessary. I worked all day and I cared for my daughter at night. I was busy and tired.
Long after the bottles and diapers were gone, I still spent such little time with God that my spirit became weak. I went to church every week, read my Bible sporadically, and prayed occasionally but it wasn’t enough to grow and mature in Christ.
During this two to three year period of being busy and tired, I became complacent in my relationship with God. I also became very unhappy. I periodically found myself angry with God because He’d given me the difficult assignment of being a single mom. If I had been close to God I would have looked to Him for help and strength. Instead I blamed God for my problems.
If there’s no relationship with God, then there’s no salvation. I could’ve blamed many different things, but I only came close to spiritual death because of choices I made. I don’t ever want to get to that dark place again, so every day I fight for my time with God.
The reality is life is busy. We have to invest time and energy into our jobs. Our families have needs, especially if we have children or are caring for our elderly parents. Don’t forget we need time to rest and reenergize. Sometimes we do this by watching TV, connecting with friends through social media, or going to our cabins on the weekends. Of course we can’t leave out serving in the church or helping those in need. Our lives are filled with many important and necessary things, but we have a responsibility to God.
Jesus addressed the issue of busyness in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus and His disciples had left Jerusalem and went to Bethany, which was about two miles away. When they arrived, Martha welcomed them into her home. Martha became distracted with much serving. Some versions say she was cumbered, which means she was too busy and over-occupied. Mary chose to be with Jesus; she sat at His feet and listened to Him. When Martha complained to Jesus, He said Mary had made the better choice. Rather than frantically run around and complain about too much work to do, Mary rested quietly in Jesus’ presence. For us that’s time in prayer, reading the Bible, or sitting in God’s presence. I used to be like Martha, until I realized my salvation was at stake—and then I made some changes.
