Spend time with the Lord

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) This was our text for this past Sunday.  As I look through the gospels, I see Jesus and the disciples taking time to pull apart from the crowds and rest.  In Mark 1:35 we see a glimpse of the practice of Jesus, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”  If this was the practice of our Savior and Lord, how much more does it need to be ours?  Pulling away from the hustle and bustle of life to spend time with the Lord is not important, it is imperative.  

I imagine in most of our lives we have had periods when things are moving so fast and furious with everyone going different ways that we have no time to sit and relish being in the presence of those or the one we love most.  When those times occur (or occurred) we feel disconnected from one another.  When we have little or no time for the Lord, the disconnect is there whether we recognize it or not in that moment.  I have shared before that as people have shared they need to “get right” with the Lord because they have been drifting, I sometimes ask when this started.  I ask this question because it helps the person know and understand the root problem or issue, not just the symptom of closeness.  

Their answers are always in the area of, “When I stopped reading my Bible, when I stopped praying, when I stopped spending time alone with God.”  And these are usually people in the heart of the church community.  They are present on Sundays, and sometimes serve on Wednesdays.  The person outside the fellowship of the church usually already knows what took them to where they find themselves.  But those in the church, we can easily substitute our activity level for our intimacy level with the Lord.  This is when the words of Psalm 46:10 ring loud “Be still.”  As much as we hear about doing for or service to the Lord, it all originates and is sustained by our “being” in the Lord.  The emphasis is not what we do, but Who empowers and works through us for His good pleasure.

There are so many needs, so many tasks and so many thoughts that I find it very hard to turn my mind off and be still.  Even if I am physically still , my mind is going and going.  I have to work to focus when others are teaching and preaching.  I learned a long time ago to have a slip of paper and a pen with me.  Yes, for notes, but also this is the way I “shoot the rabbits” that jump up in the midst of someone teaching and preaching.  I jot down just enough to “put the rabbit” down so I can refocus on the lesson being presented.  I find that I need to do the same in prayer.  The Lord brings a name to mind and instead of reaching immediately for the phone, I write down the name and return to praying.  Once I and the Lord are done, I will make that phone call.  Otherwise, my activity of meeting a potential need interrupts my time with the Lord.  

May you find the ways to discipline yourself so that your activity doesn’t rule your life, but your sweet fellowship with the Lord is primary and that drives all your activity.

Pressing On…

Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor