I gotta have my God-Time

By: Carole L. Haines

Woke up this morning to a sink full of dishes (and no dishwasher to put them in), laundry piled high, two lunches to make, two breakfasts to make. My beloved cats to feed, as well. It took over an hour to get it all done so they could all get out the door on time. Now I am just sitting down to be with Jesus, but I have emails and texts, missed calls etc. beckoning me. I turned off all sound, closed the phone and sighed, “I gotta have my God-Time.” I have a wonderful new friend who is the first person I ever heard call it her “God Time.” I always called it a quiet time, but “God-Time” is more accurate. My heart is weary with lists and chores, to-do’s and the clamoring of this world. I need to shut the world out, silence the noise and just listen for His voice. I miss Him, I miss God. He is everywhere present, so He is right here with me. The problem is, I am not right here with Him; I am distracted, and I need to quiet my spirit to a volume of zero so I can simply listen. It reminded me of a well-loved story in Scripture.

 “Then he came there to a cave and spent the night there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”

¹¹ So He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 
(1Kings 19:9-13)

Elijah was on the run after seeing God demonstrate His mighty power through him on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal. For the full story you can read 1 Kings 18-19. But what struck me about this story was that God didn’t just show up. He was not in the powerful wind. He was not in the earthquake. He was not in the fire. All of these were loud, noisy, and powerful things. God revealed Himself to Elijah in the sound of a gentle wind.

It made me realize just how much I do need to shut this world out, turn the noise down and wait for that gentle wind of the voice of God. Noise isn’t always a sound, it can be the clamor of activity demanding your attention. I am learning to set those aside, quiet it down and sit before Him once again. I miss Him so much right now, and though He is with me, I need to choose to be with Him, body, soul and spirit. Leaving as much of the world behind on the other side of the door.
Jesus, come meet with us here. We love you, we miss you, we need you.