Making Time for God When You Have No Time

52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours or 525,600 minutes is what we have in a year. Sounds like a lot of time doesn’t it?! Honestly, a year seems to fly by much faster as an adult. There is never enough time to accomplish all that we’d like to do, whether it is for our family, our church, our job or ourselves. How can we best evaluate our priorities enabling us to know what should take precedence over another task or opportunity?

The Bible tells us that our life is “a vapor.” That verse is found in James 4:14 and says, “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away,” and it is so true! The Hebrew word “vapor” means “meaningless.” Absolutely nothing that we do here on earth has lasting meaning other than what we do for God! Because we know this, we need to be cognizant of the time we are given and invest it wisely. If we were given a very large sum of money and told to invest it wisely so that it would have lasting effects on generations to come, we would apply ourselves to find out how best to do that. Sweet sister, that is exactly what we are given by our life from God. We were created by God for a purpose, we have the opportunity and ability to invest in eternity! Life is short and eternity is long- we must live applying that concept to our lives.

God’s plan for us is that our minutes here on earth matter. Using time wisely is addressed many times, likely because God knows that there are so many things that distract us in this life. The devil also knows that’s an easy scheme to sabotage our relationship with God. In Philippians 2:26, Paul rejoices that “in the day of Christ” he did not run the race of life in vain or work in vain. Will we be able to rejoice as Paul was able to say? Ephesians 5:16 says, “It is required of stewards (me & you) that we be found trustworthy (worthy).” In this evil world, we must focus daily to complete this. We must have a plan or Satan will generously devise a plan and hand it right over to us. Below are a few suggestions to help you stay focused on “The Reason for the Season” as we close out 2024 and head towards 2025.

PRAY: Years ago a Pastor of mine asked me how he could pray for me. At that time my hubby and I were working as youth leaders. I immediately said, “Pray that I would have wisdom in leading.” Friends, that prayer has not changed! If ever anyone asks me, I will always ask for more wisdom. Knowledge comes from books; wisdom comes from God. When we pray scripture, we speak wisdom; when we talk to God, we gain wisdom and when we strive to be more like Him, we exhibit wisdom.  Praying for forgiveness is most important, but I cannot think of a better prayer than for wisdom after confession. Not only should we pray for wisdom, but we should pray that God would help us “number our days,” being attentive to our time with Him. Ask your Pastor, small group leader, spouse or friend to pray with you that you would be wise in making choices with your time.

PLAN: This means intentionally setting aside time to meet your appointment with God. He is the perfect gentleman- patiently waiting for you to show up for your appointment with Him. The question is, “Is He prioritized enough in your schedule for you to keep your appointment?” This may look like getting up 20 minutes earlier, going to bed 20 minutes later, leaving that TV, phone or computer that you are giving your attention to --- you get the idea. Set an alarm on your phone for your special appointment with God. Start with 15 minutes and if you stick with it, soon you’ll be longing for more and find creative ways to spend more time with Him. Podcasts, music, jotting notes and verses are just the beginning of things you can do to focus on God and His love.

SCRIPTURE: Memorizing scripture is HARD! Do you know why? Because that is our best weapon against the trials and temptations of life. To memorize a verse, I use every opportunity I can to see and hear it. I put a sticker on the back of my phone, an index card plasti-tacked to the dash of my car, record a note or message and play it back as I drive. Ask your child to memorize it with you and practice it together or ask your spouse or a friend.

These are just 3 ways to begin a beautiful journey of spending more time with God. I may just follow this up with a wonderful Bible study on spending time with God, reading and praying His Words and the benefits of those but that is for another time. Oh, how blessed we are to have a wonderful Savior who will meet us wherever we are, whenever we are ready to meet with Him. Fill your tank basking in His love so that you can share His love with those around you this season. The time is there, it just has to be used wisely. 💜

Verses to Meditate on: Psalms 90:12; Proverbs 16:9. 21:5, 27:1; Mark 13:32-33; John 9:4; Phil. 2: 2; James 4:14; 1 John 2:17. There are many more. Perhaps you can do a study looking up verses regarding this topic.

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, thank you so much for our lives that you have planned for me. Help me to live purposefully according to Your will. Please remind me via our Holy Spirit that I must set my mind on You and seek You first and foremost in my life. Show me how to use my time wisely prioritizing my time with You as if you were here walking in the flesh with me. May I always be a doer of Your Word as I draw close to you as you draw close to me. In this busy world, let me seek you first, allowing You to direct my steps. I love You, Lord. Amen.

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