Sorry God! I don't have time!
There are times when it's easy to find time for God; easy to sit down with the Bible; easy to close the bedroom door and turn your heart to Jesus. At other times, putting as much as 10 minutes a day aside seems impossible.
The days fly by, hours seem like minutes. Before you know it, it's all used up and not a moment of it set aside for God.
TIME CHUNKS FOR GOD
Life is made up of seasons and sometimes the possibility of putting time aside for God is limited. Instead of one hour we manage to get in five minutes of a stress-filled day. That's life! Our problem starts when we make a difference between God and everyday life, when we divide it into two chunks like this:
1. God
2. All the practical, stressful things we've got to get done
Why is it a problem when we divide life up like that? Because a time will come when everyday life will take over everything. For example you're sitting studying for an exam as hard as you can. Or maybe you've just become a mother and feel you've hardly time to brush your teeth.
God is not like some divorced father who's lost his parental custody, and needs special appointments to make time for you.
When these seasons arise, and they will, what happens if we've consigned God to a separate chunk of our lives? Only everyday life is left! God gets squeezed out, of course.
GOD IS IN IT ALL
Fortunately God is our father. Like a good father He doesn't just want to be part of a so-called "spiritual" chunk of life. He longs to be there in everything. He doesn't wish us to divide our lives into bites where one part has nothing to do with him. He wants to be the core of everything we do; the whole lot right from our school and career, our upbringing, laundry, to brushing our teeth.
I often catch myself trying to get through difficult tasks without God. Right in the middle of a trying challenge at school, for example, I realise I haven't even asked God for help. It's as if I think God has nothing to do with this part!
God takes us in hand whatever we're going through.
The trouble is that if I ask God for help – if I choose to involve him in all my life – then He won't just listen He'll answer as well. If I say something as simple as: "God I'm tired I can't tackle studying for this exam" then He doesn't block his ears and turn His back on me.
For who is this God we actually serve? In Isaiah 41:13 God says of Himself:
For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
In this first I need a good father who cares about me. Can you see it? - A father stretching out his hand, grabbing yours and saying "don't be scared, I'm here. I shall look after you. I shall guide you. I am with you."
Like any good father God doesn't just want to be there for you when you're doing "Christian activities". A good father is there when your sandwiches are being made, your shoelaces need tying, or you need a lift to your ballet or football. Like any good father, God is there for you in all the ordinary moments our lives are made up of.
No, God isn't a father who's lost his custody rights and needs to set aside special times to be with us. On the contrary: he is a Pappa who sent His Son to destroy the distance and tear down the the curtain separating Him and us. He is closer, more real, more involved than any earthly father could be. He is in us, around us, with us, holding our hand whatever we're going through.
Are we going through a period of high pressure at work?
Then God says: ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
Are we overwhelmed by studies or responsibilities?
Then God says: ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
Is life difficult; dark; challenging; tiring; overwhelming; stressful; boiling over?
Then God says, as He grabs your right hand and sets you on your feet again: ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
GOD HAS TIME FOR US
We can pray for anything: whatever we like! I myself often pray to the Lord about challenges and difficulties in my studies because often that's what is taking up my time and threatening to shove God out of the limelight. When I choose to involve God in things as "worldly" and "non-Christian" as my studies, right up in my stress and struggle and exams, I experience closeness with Him and spend time with Him; Right when I, in theory, "haven't time for God".
LET'S GIVE GOD HIS PLACE AT ALL THE SEASONS OF OUR LIFE
So instead of "Sorry God I haven't got time right now", let's stop thinking God isn't interested in our everyday life and invite Him into it instead. With God involved, I also think it's easier to see what we could spend less time on, wasting less of it and use our time better.
So when the time comes, and it will, when we are so busy we don't know how we can squeeze God into our calendar, we can find ourself living and walking with God, even though it might look a bit different from when we have time to spare.
Let's give God all our seasons!
Text published by kind permission of Sennep.net