Daughter in Waiting Ministry

Morning,

For my last post of the year, I wanted to write about God’s grace. Though I quickly realized that my understanding of God’s grace is still limited and unlike my understanding of God’s mercy, I still have a ways to go when it comes to grasping God’s grace and personally identifying with it. When I’m able to fully articulate it in a way that deeply resonates with my heart, I will go on to write about it. Instead, I want to leave you with this last post.

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Deuteronomy 6:5 (ESV)

My heart towards God is what drives me to spend time with Him. When I recommitted my life to God, I experienced a season that I’ve heard some Christians call the ‘honeymoon stage’. In this season, I burned brightly for God. I wanted to spend every bit of free time I had with Him and reading His word. It felt effortless for me to worship God.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

1 Peter 5:6-10 (NIV)

Eventually, my honeymoon season with God fizzled out. By then, He had restored my strength, my hope, and had renewed my mind and heart not only to worship Him but also to live for Him. After that season, the deep urge I had to spend all of my time with Him subsided. As hungry as I am today to read and study the word of God and to spend time with Him, there are times when I simply don’t feel like it. There are times that despite my own feelings and emotions, I have to go against them and make time for Him. 

Simply put, the human flesh does not want to worship God. The desires to worship, praise, study, and be with God, are ignited by His Spirit and come to us by faith.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

Psalm 42:11 (ESV)

King David could relate to this and he also understood that despite how we feel, it’s up to us to put God first. God desires for us and commanded for us to love Him with all of our hearts, but He will not force us to.

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Romans 10:17 (ESV)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)

Over and over again in His word, God promises to meet believers when they come to Him (James 4:8, Jeremiah 3:33, Isaiah 1:18). These are promises I hold onto when I draw near to God and seek His face. I trust that when I spend time with God, I encounter Him. I’ve grown closer to Him as a result. I also know and trust that my faith in Him is not something I have to conjure up on my own. It’s given as His word says above. This awareness gives me the liberty to spend time with Him regardless of how I feel. 

It’s important that we make time for God regardless of how we feel and regardless of our circumstances.

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The Parable of the Great Banquet
Luke 14

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus shared this parable that is interpreted to reflect how God invited the nation of Israel to His Kingdom, the excuses His chosen people gave in rejecting His forgiveness, and how God extended salvation to all. It also voices the message that it’s up to us to accept or reject God’s invitation for salvation. 

I also think this parable is a great example for the excuses we give when it comes to spending time with God. 

“But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
Luke 14:16-20 (ESV)

How many of us give excuses like the invitees above? When we are asked why we haven’t spent time with God, what’s our go-to excuse? Is it ‘I’m getting married’, ‘I have an event to go to’, ‘I don’t feel like it’, ‘I have to study’, or else? The invitation to spend time with God is an open invitation for all, because God does not sleep and is always working (Psalm 121:4-5, John 5:17). How glorious is that? God wants us all to come to Him! We should be ecstatic to know that at any hour of the day we want to spend with Him, He’s awake and available to hear us and draw near to us. God has zero limitations to us spending time with Him. We’re the ones filled with excuses. 

For those of you who have studied this passage, you know that eventually, the master of the house became angry and asked his servant to extend the invite to everyone, not just his initial guests. 

“So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”
Luke 14:21-23 (ESV)

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God’s desire is for all of us to fill His house, His kingdom. But, there’s a harsh reality to the gospel. This invitation won’t always be made available.

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.”

Isaiah 55:6 (ESV)

None of us know the hour nor time when our Savior will come back (Matthew 24:36-37). Because of this humbling truth, we should cherish the time we are given. My time spent with God strengthens my faith and renews my hope. It also enables me to be the light of the world so that others may also come to believe. It doesn’t matter if I only have an hour to give to God during the day or three, what’s important is that I make time for Him daily. What’s important is that I include and acknowledge Him in my ways daily (Proverbs 3:6). I’m actively trying to limit the excuses I give to not spend time with Him and simply come to Him whenever and wherever. A standard morning bible study has been my go-to, but sometimes it switches to the evenings. Sometimes, it’s a worship session in the shower or a Christian podcast I can learn a thing or two from.

This life isn’t always easy and this walk with God is certainly not without its challenges. We need the strength of God, the wisdom of God, and the understanding and awareness of God to keep going and living as He intended us to. Let’s start this New Year 2025 with the dedication to stop making excuses and to start making time for God. Even five minutes of our time is better than none. For the God who loves us unconditionally (Romans 8) and created us (Genesis 1) has made Himself available to us and to share in His glory with us (Romans 8). Like Apostle Paul once said, let us continue to run the race, keep the faith, and fight the good fight.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

2 Timothy 4:7 (ESV)

I wish you all a Happy New Year 2025! God bless you <3.

Sincerely,

Anne