In this season of Lent, I’m feeling a desire to grow closer to God. Last week, one of my fellow bloggers wrote a post about resting in the Lord. Our lives are so busy, it seems it’s hard to just take the time to spend in prayer or reading God’s Word. Each day since Ash Wednesday I have set aside time to read the scripture in my church’s Wordstrong reading schedule for Lent. They are pretty short passages, but still I have found myself at the very end of the day finally sitting down to read the scheduled passage before crawling into bed.
How did life get to hectic and busy that we find it hard to spend time with God? Now, it’s not that I don’t think of Him often throughout the day, and lift up a prayer here and there when I think of it; but it does seem like so many other things are allotted so many more of the 24 hours in each day than I devote solely to God.
My friend’s blog reminded me of the song “Sit with Me” by Revive. This video of it includes an introduction to the meaning behind the song by the members of the band, plus a bonus rendition of “Chorus of the Saints” at the end:
That is what God really wants from us: To set aside our busy lives and just sit at His feet to learn and worship. Even Jesus spent time alone with His Father every day in prayer.
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:15-16 (NIV).
In spite of the throngs who crowded about Him clamoring for healing and teaching, Jesus was always at peace. By His actions, He taught us that communion with God is so important so that the rest of the time we will feel at peace and will not be swept up in the stresses of life. There will always be demands on our time and resources; we can’t ignore our responsibilities and spend every minute at the feet of Jesus. But we can set aside a significant portion of each day to just sit with God so that He may instill His peace and truth in our hearts to be with us when we face the challenges of each day.