“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out.  You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” -Matthew 6:33 MSG

Distraction

Melissa rolls out of bed late. She looks at the yoga mat and knows it would be good for her to awaken her body and settle her mind, so she throws on some workout wear and gets to it. After her workout, she enters the kitchen to make her morning coffee. The dishes are overflowing in the sink. There’s another thing she didn’t have time to get done.  She can’t find Adam’s backpack for school.  Her mind races with her long to-do list. How is she ever going to get the promotion if she doesn’t work harder? 

She turns on the morning news while she eats a piece of toast and is overwhelmed by the current state of affairs: political unrest, racial tension, pandemic overwhelm. These topics weigh heavy on her heart. The cares of the world make her feel anxious. Her husband has already left for work, so she’s left to get the kids ready for school. Life feels full of endless responsibilities, demands, and obligations. 

She heads down the hall to wake the kids and passes the laundry room. Piles of laundry sit neglected, and she wonders when she’ll have time to get to that.  She tosses a load in and hopes she won’t forget it again.  How many times do you need to rewash clean clothes that smell moldy in the washing machine?

 As she races back to her room to make the bed, she sees her Bible and journal on her nightstand.  She looks longingly at it, secretly wishing there were more minutes in her day so she could spend some time with God.  “Maybe tomorrow,” she whispers.  She throws up a little prayer to God, apologizing for her absence, hoping He won’t be disappointed in her.  “I promise I’ll make time tomorrow,” she thinks, and off she goes into her day. 

First Things First

There is one way to lessen the distractions that claw at us when we rise each day.  It’s a simple step, I like to call First Things First.  When we love God, He has an amazing way of orchestrating our days when we put Him first.  What we assume will be a costly expenditure on our time scale, we see God actually multiplies our moments when we put Him first. This doesn’t need to be a grand gesture that requires a long duration.  It’s more about an attitude of the heart that says, “God, we want more of you.”  We start with 10-15 minutes of reading the Word and talking to God about what’s on our hearts. We don’t make it complicated or fussy, we just take our first steps of the day towards Him.

Now the posture of the heart matters.  We don’t do it so God can approve of us, because friends, we already have God’s approval.  We put time with God first as a way to say, “God, we love you above all other things. “ We love you more than our families, our ambition, our goals, our work, our tidy homes, our well-balanced diets, and our fit bodies.

When we set aside our to-do list and focus on God first, we allow Him to calm our racing thoughts and anxious hearts.  He infuses us with His love and then says, “Ok, sweethearts, now go get stuff done.  I’ll help us with each step of our days. I’ll help us at work, with strained relationships, with meeting our goals, with boring tasks, with raising our kids, and improving our marriages.” God becomes our greatest help, instead of our forgotten friend.

The more time we spend with God the more He expands our view of Him and the reach He will have in our lives.  We will start to see the world from His perspective.  What matters to Him will matter to us.  We’ll learn to sense His love and appreciate His goodness and it all starts by putting Him first each day. 

Let’s pray. Make it personal.

Dear Papa, Help me to put You first each day because when I make You the most important thing in my life, then You orchestrate the rest of my day. Thank you for helping me choose You as I learn Your gentle ways of love and grace.  Give me the courage and strength to put you first above all other things.

Still, struggling?

Maybe this will help.

I’ve created a free guide, “Five Attributes Needed for A Close Connection with God.”  Simply enter your name and email below so I know where to send it.