Come and Sit

That time of day has come. The time of day you spend on God. For some of us, it’s the early morning, and for others, it’s the late evening. You may have an alarm set for the afternoon or Saturday morning, the only time you have found in your schedule. Maybe you only sporadically spend the time, but what does it look like when you do?

Is it in scripture or prayer? Is worship your go-to, or do you use a devotional? Do you sit, lay, walk, or dance? Is it quiet or loud? Do you listen to the audio Bible on the treadmill or maybe pull out all your reference books and highlighters? We all have different preferences and practices, but I’d like to share some of mine.

When I decided to follow Jesus again eight years ago, I started with sermons, worship, and the occasional book. Not so much a devotional but topical books on the Bible and God. I would listen to sermons while I walked and watch sermons while I cooked. I was so hungry for knowledge that this took up a considerable amount of time. Then I became dissatisfied with secondhand information and realized I needed to read the Word for myself. I added scripture to this routine and loved it, but it was sporadic and disorganized. Just like me!

Eventually, I got organized. I started at the front and ended at the back. This took a few attempts but about four years ago God helped me read the whole way through. I would wake up early with my Bibles and apps (I needed multiple translations and still do.) A notebook and a pen. I would sit at my dining room table and plow through seven chapters a day, about six days a week. After that, I would head outside with my headphones, feed the chickens, and walk while I praised God. There were days and weeks I did not accomplish this, let’s be real!

I kept at this structure of scripture first and worship and prayer second. We lived far from everything so my commutes were saturated in sermons and worship, especially on the days I had missed my morning time with God. I would read straight through or skip around. One chapter or seven, and everything in between.

Last year with a baby and homeschoolers I could not find the time in the mornings. I asked God for a plan, and He gave it to me. I would write in the early mornings then greet my bright-eyed baby around 7 and at 8 am when the teens were up, I would lock myself in my room for an hour. I would sit on the floor between my side of the bed and the door on my little carpet and read scripture, pray, and worship. This was not always a comfortable practice as that sweet baby would throw herself at the door, a few feet from me, and weep while her siblings tried to coax her away. We did it anyhow most days and it was good.

Cut to a few weeks ago. Life had changed again, and it was time for a new plan, but God had something surprising to say. See, I was still focused on rigorous study of scripture but He set a limit on how many chapters to read a day. He showed me that His focus right now was on our relationship. I set aside time in the morning before anyone wakes up and I just plop my butt down in the playroom and sit with Him. Not to praise, not to research, not even to pray the whole time. I just sit. He’s there too.

He knew what we needed, and He knew what He wanted to do. Some days I bring a joyful heart to Him, and we just laugh and soak up the time. Other days He has something He wants to say and has no difficulty getting it across. Sometimes a song pops into my head, and it brings correction or invitation. There are times when I bring a hard heart to a certain subject and in time, as we sit together, I feel it soften. It’s wild!

After that time, I come downstairs to write and before I’m done writing there is a teen who is leaving for high school and a toddler who needs a diaper, and a book, breakfast, toys, time in the garden, and crayons all at once. So, when do I read that beautiful Bible? Whenever I can. I shoot for 1-2 chapters a day and make it most days. When I pull out my Bible it’s an invitation for toddler books apparently, but she is learning to wait till I am done.

I worship while I’m making breakfast and when I am running errands. I pray for prayer requests when the alarm goes off on my phone or when something comes to mind. We worship and pray as a family most nights but there are many days where I just don’t make it and I’m learning to prioritize what He prioritizes. Our relationship.

I think if I was already good at sitting with Him every morning and never studied the Bible or worshiped then He would have drawn me into that. I may seem like a Mary, but I am often guilty of being a Martha. I connect my hard work and performance to whether I feel connected to God or if I’m being blessed by Him in the areas I prefer to be blessed.

He is faithful and He is working on that. He says that I should sit down and just be in the room with Him. He says that I should turn my mind to Him when I am in the garden or driving in the car. I need to stop all the noise and activity toward Him and for Him and just be with Him.

I don’t think there is a right way to spend time with God. I don’t think there is a perfect time of day or order of things. I think the only rule of thumb is that our spiritual disciplines must answer to Him. He needs to have a say in them just like every area of our lives. If we ask for guidance on this, He will give it. We cannot look at what someone else is doing and feel inferior or superior.

I keep forgetting that His thoughts are higher than my piddly little human thoughts, and His ways are higher. It doesn’t matter what I’ve done in the past or will do in the future. It just matters that I find out what He wants from me now.

If you allow me, I will paraphrase Proverbs 3:5-6.

I can’t trust my own brain to figure this out! I need to trust Him with every bit of my heart and find out what He thinks about every area of my life.

The truth of the matter is that when I consume seven chapters of scripture a day and then worship deeply, I feel amazing. I always had an awesome day after all that! There’s just not time in the morning for that right now and I probably couldn’t dig up the discipline to wake up that early and do it successfully anyhow. So, I will roll out of bed, walk up the steps, and sit with the One Who knew me before the beginning of time. We will do whatever we want during that time, and He will have His way.

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