Cultivating Faith During The In-Between Times
While driving to town to get some groceries, Mazy pointed out the moon that sat while patiently waiting for the sun to go down. Then she reminded me of the street corner we stopped at to gaze at the rainbow recently. As she vocalized her thoughts, I couldn’t help but vocalize my thoughts to God. How vast and marvelous His creation is, that even a little 2 year old takes notice.
I have aspirations to do my devotions every morning when I wake up. Outside of taking my medications for the day, that is the first thing I do. I grab my Bible, my devotional, and sit in the peace and quiet of the morning. But sometimes my mornings aren’t spent alone. Mazy has a wide variety of wake-up times, which makes devotion planning difficult. I always thought 6:30 would be a for sure, but I quickly learned that even the best sought out plans can be thwarted. And for good reason. Cuddling my sweet girl in the early morning, while she wakes up and says “snuggles”? Melt my heart.
But that still doesn’t get me anywhere when it comes to devotions. Yet if there is one thing I have learned over my 33 years of life, it is that God does not care when I approach Him because He is always ready and waiting for His child to come to Him. No matter what the circumstance or the hour.
I have found that my most intimate times with God have been in the in-between times. When I have approached God maybe not at a set time, but in the mundane in life. The times that are in-between one activity or another. The times when I am folding laundry or waiting for the buzzer on the dryer. The in-between times of baking cookies. The times when Mazy is busy playing by her water table and I take a moment to just sit, watch, and soak in all that God is doing in our life.
Now don’t get me wrong. meditating on God’s word just makes sense. The very words of God are written in a book that offers life, hope, and true joy. These very words we should take the time to soak in on a regular basis. In fact, when Mazy wakes up early, I try then to do my devotions immediately when she goes down for a nap because otherwise my mind and body are going to go in another direction all too soon. But there are those days. Days when the plans just don’t go according to your plan. Days when my set-devotional-time just doesn’t happen. And GOD GETS THAT.
I used to carry this “Christian” guilt that if I did not spend “x” amount of minutes with God, that He would be disappointed with me. That I was failing Him and in turn, failing myself. But the more I have let go of that self-imposed expectation, the more I have found freedom in finding other ways to cultivate my faith, spend time with God, and reach out my hand to Him saying, I need you.
It’s on those walks around the block. It’s looking out the window and thanking God for new life on the budding trees. It’s hearing Mazy count and thanking Him for her words and understanding. It’s while taking a shower, taking that deep breath and just BEING with God. It’s while making supper and looking back on the day, the activities and how God has blessed it. It’s in reading a book to Mazy and talking about a life lesson. It’s in playing in the sandbox or picking dandelions and taking the time to tell Mazy who made the sand and the dandelions. It’s taking time to just BE IN RELATIONSHIP with God.
And since then, my devotional time has been all the more impactful because my yearning for my Savior is all the more real and deep. Funny how that works, huh? The more time you spend with someone, the more you want to know. And God desires the same from us.
Look at your day and think about not only the set-aside time you spend with the Lord, but also those in-between times too. You won’t regret it!
