Fighting for Time with Jesus

Do you ever forget to eat? Forget to drink? Sometimes life gets so busy and stuff starts coming at you so fast, that you do forget. We all know what happens after a while when your body starts to say, "Hey! I'm starving here!" If you ignore the subtle pangs of hunger, you start to become weak, tired, irritable, and even physically sick. Well, my spirit has been screaming at me that it's hungry! The well is drying up and I need to replenish immediately or I will wither.

It's been a week since my last posting and I've tried to sit down and write, it seems a thousand times. But each time, my mind was on too many other things that I felt I needed to be doing or someone would interrupt my thoughts. The thing about being home when everyone else is, there is NO time ALONE! Don't get me wrong, I do love my family and love to be around them. But, without time to be alone to read my Bible, rest my mind, and journal my thoughts, I am beginning to feel starved, frazzled, and all backed up! It's been five days since I've been in the Word, and that just won't do. I need connection each and every day. Last week's experience with God will not get me through today - I need a fresh experience every day. So this morning, I decided to set the alarm for 6AM, determined to be alone with God before the family wakes up. It sure is hard pushing myself out of bed when I want to sleep, but now I'm so glad I'm here! The first thing I did was pick up my Jesus Calling book, and here's a portion of today's devotional which says so perfectly what I needed to hear:

"Be willing to fight for this precious time with Me. Opposition comes in many forms: your own desire to linger in bed; the evil one's determination to distract you from Me; the pressure of family, friends, and your own inner critic to spend your time more productively. As you grow in your desire to please Me above all else, you gain strength to resist these opponents. Delight yourself in Me, for I am the deepest Desire of your heart."

I see that I need to pray for more strength to resist these opponents and desire to please Him above all else. I allowed "life" to begin to choke out the true life that is within me. I refuse to allow the devil to cause me to dry up! I will force myself to get up even earlier if it becomes necessary. I need this time like I need food and water. It is my life blood and I cannot go without, or I will die spiritually. I guard my spiritual condition above all else because I understand just how important it is. When I start to let days pass without getting in tune with Him, I know it's time to make some changes in my priorities. So if you've been checking my journal and wondering where I've been... rest assured, I'M BACK!!!

Thank the Lord he gives us each new day to correct where we've gone wrong. He waits patiently in the background until we finally notice that we've started ignoring Him. I'm so thankful for the Holy Spirit that gently nudges us when we are lacking what we need. He doesn't condemn me or make me feel guilty for missing my time with Him. He just says lovingly, "Child, I've missed you. Come and tell me all about it."