Quiet Time

For the past 15 years I've started almost every day with my quiet time. This is one of my very favorite parts of my day. I love lighting a candle, listening to George Winston, and reading the Bible. I love reading the Bible. The more I read it, the more I'm amazed by how true it really is. Sometimes I read things that I don't like, though. The other day I read a scripture that said "keep your oath even when it hurts." I had been trying to rationalize how I could get out of a commitment that I had made to go to a birthday party. I kept thinking of different lies that I could tell so that I didn't have to go to the party. The closer the party got, the more I didn't want to go. God clearly showed me the scripture about keeping my oath two days before the party, and it was obvious that I needed to go. I'm so glad that I did for many reasons.

Another way that God helped me to see something during one of my quiet times was I recently had been having a difficult time with a coworker. She just really annoyed me, and I was having such a hard time being around her. It got to the point that I felt like I was going to go crazy if I needed to keep working with her, so I finally decided that I should probably get God's perspective about the situation. One of the scriptures that I read was to "consider others better than myself" and that Jesus "came to serve and not be served." I prayed about her, and God changed how I felt about the whole situation. He helped me to have compassion with her rather than being critical. We ended up having some great conversations, and God helped me to be much more patient with her.

It is so reassuring to know that every day I get to bring all my needs before God. I get to read about God's love for me and his desires for my life. His ways are so perfect, so true, and so comforting. Without God I'm naturally a worrier, critical, anxious, and selfish. However, with God I can be secure, merciful, trusting, and giving.