I’m naturally drawn to details. Concise details give me clarity, and I appreciate it. But on a day-to-day basis, if I’m not careful, those same details can make things more cloudy for me than clear.
It’s easy to get entangled in “stuff” these days—good stuff, and even great stuff, but all too often, much of it is just unnecessary excess. I always want to squeeze in one last detail to “make progress,” which eats into my time for the next thing. So often I’ve heard in my spirit “stop now,” but kept my foot on the gas anyhow, engaging one more idea, returning one more phone call, responding to one more email or text, or working just a few more minutes (hours) before I move on….
It may sound trivial, but here’s my example: To put a hard stop on whatever responsibility I’m in the middle of, just to go to sleep at an earlier hour, somehow seems to be slack or even selfish if I think about it too long.
But when I re-direct those thoughts to God, and make the cut-off for Him—dropping everything in that moment just so I can shift all things to make time to be alone with Him—I become that Big-Picture person I so highly regard. Clutter moves out and divine order takes over because the Big Picture, what’s most important in this life, is in clear view.
Excerpt from "Cutting the Detail" by Lisa Birch:
http://www.streamingfaith.com/index.php/prayer/devotionals/cutting-the-details/
The ultimate purpose of spending time with God is to commune with God. We are made for relationship with God (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and thus, in order to have fullness of joy and to be what God wants him to be, he needs to cultivate that relationship. How this is done will make all the difference for making our devotional time a meaningful, edifying, and truly purposeful time.
A productive quiet time is one in which we encounter God's heart for us through His Word. We read it, study it, and meditate upon it such that the Spirit is able to give us enlightenment concerning its meaning and His desired application for our lives. The Scripture is not meant to be mere data and information, but it is language expressing God's love and intents to us and for us. It is thus more than letters on a page, being God's handwritten note to us about His love and purposes for us. It is very much alive (Hebrews 4:12). When we read God's Word to see what God's heart is and how He wants our hearts (James 1:25), then devotions are meaningful and purposeful.
Excerpt from "The Purpose of Time Alone with God" by Brenton M. Barnett:
http://www.streamingfaith.com/index.php/prayer/devotionals/the-purpose-of-time-alone-with-god/
