Too Busy to Meet?

I didn’t want to go, but too much time had passed since I’d been with my friend. We’d made a date. How could I cancel at the last minute?

And if I didn’t see her that day—when? Would there ever be a perfect lull in our lives to get together?

Even so, the weight of everything I should be doing pressed me down. By the time I met my friend, I felt like a simmering pressure cooker about to blow.

She smiled and hugged me. Then she listened while I ranted about life and how I didn’t have any strength. Finally, I buttoned my lips and allowed her to speak. She understood because her life was no less hectic.

Not unlike most of my friends when I ask them, “How are you?”

They reply, “Busy.”

We’re not just busy, we live in a hurry.

We’re always driving in the fast lane to get to the next thing. Rarely engaged in the moment.

That gray afternoon, I made myself STOP for two hours. The world didn’t stop spinning, but my mind did!

My friend mentioned a devotion she’d read which helped her. She talked about the Lord’s faithfulness in her life which led to a discussion about God’s sweet grace.

Somewhere between “hello” and our goodbye hug, the weight lifted from my bent shoulders. My mind rested as though I’d had a long nap. My spirit was refreshed.

I never did what “I thought I needed to do” that day.

The Lord nudged me in a different direction. I spent the evening with my husband at an event I had no desire to attend. Turned out to be a wise choice.

If I hadn’t slowed down to meet my friend, and bring God into our conversation,  I doubt my spirit would have felt God’s nudge much less gladly obeyed Him.

My mentor Loretta told me years ago, “Slowing down is necessary to hear God’s voice.”

So why is this a lesson I keep learning?

Every morning, I have a standing date to meet with the Lord.

When I choose to skip it and hurry into my day, I’m like the ignorant child C.S. Lewis described in Weight of Glory:

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

 

When’s the last time you slowed down to meet with the Lord?

Photos: http://www.jennywredephotography.com