Answering God's "call"
Many of us claim that we have a problem of not having enough time for a period of devotional/quiet time. The same goes for me before I found the sweet joy of just meditating in his words and experiencing the joy of knowing He is there for me when he replies my prayers and questions in my devotional time. Firstly, we must understand that devotional time is for the benefit of ourselves. Sometimes, we pray very hard for God to answer our prayers. However, we do not give him a time to answer them. How is He going to tell you: "My child, wait, for it is not time yet." or "Do not despair, look unto me." when we do not even give him a chance to answer us?
Maybe many would be like me, naive, when i was still at the stage of a toddler in my spiritual growth. I thought there would be no need for devotional time. I thought that the Lord would answer me in terms of just giving me what I asked for. Otherwise, it would show that he just thought it wasn't time. Or else, maybe God would appear in my dreams and telling me what he wanted for me. Although there may be certain times where God may really appear in your dreams, but why wait? Why not seek out God for yourself? It would be so much easier for the God to communicate with you. When you actually take out time for devotion, you are actually having a "call" with God. You "pick" up the "phone" and you know he is there, true and real. Even when you do not literally hear his voice, he is actually speaking to you. Sometimes He gives you a "call", but you tell yourself you are too tired, you are too busy, and you let that "ring" fade off in the distance. God gives everybody a "call" everyday, and imagine if the 60 billion people all tell themselves they are too tired to "pick up God's call". He has to wait patiently, nervous and anxious that we might not pick up such an important call from him. Would you want to make him wait? Would you want to make him heartbroken when you choose not to pick up His call?
When we pray, on the other hand, we are the ones initiating the "call" to God. He picks up and listens. He never talks then. He listens quietly on the other line, listening to all your troubles, your prayers, your pain. He smiles quietly when you thank him. He silently forgives you with grace when you ask him to cleanse your sins. That is why God is a good listener. He never talks when you talk. And when you are done with talking, its his turn. Give Him a chance to talk to you. He wants you to listen to His voiceas much as how He wants to hear your voice.
On the otherhand, there may be others who does devotional time at different times of the day. I know of some who does it in the morning, afternoon and even at night. There is no right or wrong time, i suppose, picking up God's call late is better than not picking up at all. Before I came across a devotional in SITD, I did my devotional at night. I thought, like most people would, that God just wanted us to give up a time for devotional. It didn't matter when. Even though many people constantly told me that morning devotional is the best, because you put all your day's work into God's hands, I just couldn't bring myself to wake up earlier to have devotion. Even the feeling of wanting to get up earlier for devotion constantly nagged me, I just pushed it aside. Until one day, which was not too long ago, God let me see this devotional reading (Septemer 13). The last line of the devotional read: "Give God the fresh blossom of the day. Never make him wait until the petals have faded." This line just stood out from the book as if it was scolding me for making my Almighty wait for me. I knew God wanted me to "pick up his call" in the morning, and not at night. Even though it is very difficult, and many times I just wanted to give up, but I knew I couldn't stop for even a day, or I'll fall back to the days where I made God wait for me.
Some of us might think that it is okay to do devotion anytime. We might think that there's nothing wrong. There is indeed nothing wrong, but it is how much you are willing to sacrifice for God. Now, I can proudly say that I sacrifice a small part of my sleep to "pick uo God's call"! Little as it may be, I hope I will be able to extend the time of His conversation to me, and hope that he will be delighted with our short but sweet conversation.
"In the morning...come up...Present yourself to me there on top of the mountains. (Exodus 34:2)"
Maybe many would be like me, naive, when i was still at the stage of a toddler in my spiritual growth. I thought there would be no need for devotional time. I thought that the Lord would answer me in terms of just giving me what I asked for. Otherwise, it would show that he just thought it wasn't time. Or else, maybe God would appear in my dreams and telling me what he wanted for me. Although there may be certain times where God may really appear in your dreams, but why wait? Why not seek out God for yourself? It would be so much easier for the God to communicate with you. When you actually take out time for devotion, you are actually having a "call" with God. You "pick" up the "phone" and you know he is there, true and real. Even when you do not literally hear his voice, he is actually speaking to you. Sometimes He gives you a "call", but you tell yourself you are too tired, you are too busy, and you let that "ring" fade off in the distance. God gives everybody a "call" everyday, and imagine if the 60 billion people all tell themselves they are too tired to "pick up God's call". He has to wait patiently, nervous and anxious that we might not pick up such an important call from him. Would you want to make him wait? Would you want to make him heartbroken when you choose not to pick up His call?
When we pray, on the other hand, we are the ones initiating the "call" to God. He picks up and listens. He never talks then. He listens quietly on the other line, listening to all your troubles, your prayers, your pain. He smiles quietly when you thank him. He silently forgives you with grace when you ask him to cleanse your sins. That is why God is a good listener. He never talks when you talk. And when you are done with talking, its his turn. Give Him a chance to talk to you. He wants you to listen to His voiceas much as how He wants to hear your voice.
On the otherhand, there may be others who does devotional time at different times of the day. I know of some who does it in the morning, afternoon and even at night. There is no right or wrong time, i suppose, picking up God's call late is better than not picking up at all. Before I came across a devotional in SITD, I did my devotional at night. I thought, like most people would, that God just wanted us to give up a time for devotional. It didn't matter when. Even though many people constantly told me that morning devotional is the best, because you put all your day's work into God's hands, I just couldn't bring myself to wake up earlier to have devotion. Even the feeling of wanting to get up earlier for devotion constantly nagged me, I just pushed it aside. Until one day, which was not too long ago, God let me see this devotional reading (Septemer 13). The last line of the devotional read: "Give God the fresh blossom of the day. Never make him wait until the petals have faded." This line just stood out from the book as if it was scolding me for making my Almighty wait for me. I knew God wanted me to "pick up his call" in the morning, and not at night. Even though it is very difficult, and many times I just wanted to give up, but I knew I couldn't stop for even a day, or I'll fall back to the days where I made God wait for me.
Some of us might think that it is okay to do devotion anytime. We might think that there's nothing wrong. There is indeed nothing wrong, but it is how much you are willing to sacrifice for God. Now, I can proudly say that I sacrifice a small part of my sleep to "pick uo God's call"! Little as it may be, I hope I will be able to extend the time of His conversation to me, and hope that he will be delighted with our short but sweet conversation.
"In the morning...come up...Present yourself to me there on top of the mountains. (Exodus 34:2)"
