GCR Women

A few weeks ago,I attended ThinkNEXT, a church planters' conference.  One of the exercises the speaker had us do was to spend about thirty minutes in solitude.  She instructed us to spend this time noticing God in everything, all around us.  She encouraged us to be quiet and listen for God's voice. I have trouble being still and it's quite a challenge for me to be quiet, but I complied.  It was a beautiful October day, so I walked outside and sat on a bench and waited - observing, listening. Peace enveloped me.  Joy filled me.  And God spoke to me.  His simple message:  Let Me feed you. In awe, a picture came to me of a mother trying to feed her toddler.  The toddler - eager to learn and become independent - reached for the spoon every time the mother brought it close.  Each time, the mother gently moved the child's tiny, inexperienced hand away and brought the spoon to the child's mouth, so she could eat the nutritious food....

It's too much! Work here, work there! Volunteer here, volunteer there! Study this, study that! Clean inside, clean outside! It's always something and it never stops. What consumes your time, your energies?  How do you set your priorities?  Does your to-do list include solitude?  Do you ever schedule in rest?  (I don't mean vacation.  Often vacations are just as exhausting as work.)  Do you take the Lord's command to keep the Sabbath seriously? These are questions I ask myself.  I know what I want the answers to be, but I also know what the answers are.  And those answers say so much about who or what is actually Lord of my life. Work is necessary and can be productive.  Volunteering is selfless and rewarding.  Study reinforces beliefs and challenges them as well.  Cleaning brings order to chaos and clears the mind while clearing the clutter.  But everything must be kept in perspective. God does not share His thron...