Years ago, Larnelle Harris wrote and sang a song entitled, I Miss My Time with You. Recently, I have found myself slacking more and more in my time with the Lord. Granted, I had enough excuses. My life has become full and almost too busy. With four kids between the ages of 12 and 20 running hither and yon, my life is often a blur. They really do expect me to know their daily work/school/social schedules and not skip a beat. That is in addition to the normal “mom” things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, and errands. We have a reasonably sized home, no complaints. But try to find a place to spend time with God alone for awhile, and suddenly, there is no room. No place to go for some solitude, peace, and quiet.
As my children have grown older, I have been pushed out of my comfort zone and am now forced to be creative in finding time with God. However, the Lord has reminded me (more than once) that this struggle does not excuse me from spending time with Him. In fact, I need Him more every day. I have learned to be more creative – and have finally found a “spot” where I can turn out the lights, close the door, turn on my worship music and linger in His presence. I still get interrupted from time to time. Kids will pop in, “Hey Mom… oops… you praying?” “Yes, I’m praying. Close the door on your way out. Thanks.” I am learning to be extremely flexible because it really is not all about me and my comfort. I want my kids to see me pray, to know that this mom is crying their names out to the Lord on a regular basis.
In church Sunday evening, a woman stood to testify. She has recently divorced her husband, moved out with her two kids and is trying to go to college and work to support her family. She had almost quit coming to church altogether because her life was so full. In fact, I heard the comment from various saints more than once, “You know that family has almost quit coming altogether.” We were concerned and I personally spent some extra time praying for her and her family because I know what a hard time she is having. People had contacted her, but she was so busy and downtrodden with life that it didn’t matter. She stood to testify and told us how she had been missing her children due to her crazy life right now. She said that she prayed and asked the Lord to just work it out so that she could spend some more time with her kids. Very quickly and kindly, the Lord spoke to her, “That is how I feel about you.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she told us that the Lord was prompting her to get back to where she needed to be. She went on to thank the Lord for caring enough about her to talk to her and keep her on the straight and narrow.
And it’s true. When we don’t talk to Him, He misses us. We serve a God with feelings for us. I think that we sometimes forget that He is waiting…waiting…waiting… while we run here and there “living for Him,” but not spending time with Him. May we ever remember that besides the fact that we *need* Him for strength and power in our lives, He also *needs* us and gave His life that we might have that personal, close-encounter type relationship with Him.
There he was just waiting in our old familiar place,
An empty spot beside him, where once I used to wait.
To be filled with strength and wisdom for the battles of the day,
I would have passed him by again if I didn’t hear Him say:
I miss my time with you, those moments together;
I need to be with you each day and it hurts me when you say,
You’re too busy, busy trying to serve me;
But how can you serve me when your spirit’s empty;
There’s a longing in my heart wanting more than just a part of you,
It’s true; I miss my time with you.
What do I have to offer? How can I truly care?
My efforts have no meaning when Your presence isn’t there;
But You will provide the power if I take time to pray;
I’ll stay right here beside him and you will never have to say.
I miss my time with you, those moments together;
I need to be with you each day and it hurts me when you say,
You’re too busy, busy trying to serve me;
But how can you serve me when your spirit’s empty;
There’s a longing in my heart wanting more than just a part of you,
It’s true; I miss my time with you.
************************
If you have enjoyed reading this Just A Thought post, please consider sharing on social media. Your efforts will bless this ministry and prove to be a blessing to others that may not know about Everyone’s Apostolic
