I cannot expect to be led by the Lord if I cannot discern the Lord's voice.
I have learned there is a distinction between being aware of God throughout my day and consciously setting aside time just for God. While there is a distinction between being aware of God and deliberately setting aside time solely for God, the latter affects the former. The more time I spend with God, the more I am aware of and hear God.
We must set aside time dedicated solely to God.
When the Lord recently led me to examine a hardened
part of my heart, the Lord also prompted me to spend more time with Him. My hardened heart was very much related to the little time I was setting aside for the Lord. The less time I spend with God, the less I
recognize God’s voice. My inability to recognize God's voice makes my heart
hard and less malleable to the things of God. It is
not that God is not moving; it is that I become less sensitive to God’s
movement.
Too many of us expect to maintain an intimate relationship
with Christ without spending time devoted purely to Christ. In this respect, our relationship with
God is much like any other relationship.
Without time safeguarded wholly for my spouse, my friend, my sibling,
my parent, you name it, our relationship will not grow. If I do life alongside a friend without dedicating time specifically to that friendship, that friendship will become stagnant. Likewise, I will never maximize communion with our Lord
if I solely execute my day alongside God without sharing my day with God. And, so it is with you.
We may be able to maintain the statutes quo with our Lord by
acknowledging Him and being aware of Him.
We may even maintain the status quo in our relationship with God by
frequently gathering with other believers, serving others, and avoiding
sin. But the Lord has called us to
maturity in Christ. And I am convinced
that maturity in Christ necessitates isolated time with our God.
And I am not being extreme—I am just
encouraging you to set aside a small amount of your day purely for God. It is true that communing with other
believers, serving others, and avoiding sin are attributes of Christ. But the personal, alone time with
our Lord is the platform for Christ.
And so I reiterate ad nauseam, there is a direct relationship between the undistracted time we spend alone
with God and our ability to hear God’s voice.
The more time we spend with God, the better we will discern
God’s voice. The better we discern God’s
voice, the more full our communion with God will be. The more full our communion with God, the more
mature we become in God. Growing in
Christ means knowing Christ. To
continuously know Christ more requires time alone with Christ.
Praise God that our Lord Jesus desires to spend time with
us. I pray you safeguard this time. For me, I am learning to perpetually fight
for this time with God. Even when this
means fighting against myself or my lack of desire. If we do
not understand the impact of personal time with our Lord; if we do not regard
this time as precious, we will forever choose our time over time with our Lord.
"[T]he sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own,
he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his
voice." (John 10:4 NIV).
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27 NIV).
"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16 NIV).
"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." (Mark 1:35 NIV).
"Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say." (Isaiah 28:23 NIV).
If I seem verbose today, I certainly am. I am drinking a very large latte. And I am absolutely unapologetic.
Much love to you,
Paige
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