A few years ago, I read an article about trying to “do all of the things” by taking on leadership roles, and being involved in all of the clubs, and taking this class and that class. The article recommended that people step down from some of the things they’re doing because it’s just not healthy and not good for you to do all of that, and plus, there was just “no possible way to maintain a strong relationship with God” while doing all of these things because you didn’t have time for God. This was somewhat discouraging to me because I like doing all of the things (or at least attempting to) and I cherish my close relationship with God that I have even while doing all of the things.
I like to be involved in multiple clubs/groups, plan a bunch of activities at once, and I like to be busy. I thrive when I am boarder-line overwhelmed. When I tell people this, they look at me like I am actually insane. “Oh, so you like to be stressed?” HA. No, definitely not. However, I do like having things to do and not just sitting around. Aka I love routines and full schedules.
{ Disclaimer: I also LOVE sitting in my bed doing nothing but binge watching Netflix and eating ridiculous amounts of York peppermint patties. }
For over a year now, every time I have said yes to something, there has been a little voice in the back of my head saying, “Oh hey now, be careful, you won’t be able to give God enough attention.” and it was majorly eating away at me. I was not able to spend hours a day working on my relationship with God. I was not able to sit down and read devotions, listen to worship music, AND journal about it all. What a crappy Christian I was being.
At the beginning of this semester, I had a realization. While time set aside for God is a wonderful and much needed thing, I don’t need to block off hours every single day for that. Because, guess what? He’s with me in every single meeting I am in, every single class I go to, and every single event I plan or attend. I don’t only have God when I am sitting alone at my desk for my scheduled “God time”. I have Him with me 24/7, 365 days a year. Every project I am working on, He’s beside of me. Every hour I dedicate to working towards a class, He is with me every second of it.
I walk around and thank Him for the weather, I sit in class and thank Him for the awesome opportunities I have at my school, and I sit in meetings and thank Him for the wonderful people I am surrounded by. It’s that simple. To me, Colossians 4:2 where it says, “devote yourselves to prayer” doesn’t mean “lock yourself in your room all day to pray every single day” or “block off two hours a day to pray and that’s it”. It means pray always. Thank Him for the little things that happen to you, ask Him for help on the big and little things you encounter every single day. Be in constant contact with Him, our Father, our listener, our helper, our rock.
This has helped me and encouraged me a lot this semester as I have been taking on more and more tasks, and saying “yes” to more activities and more roles. While I need to have some separate time for God every day, it doesn’t need to be hours. He is with me already in every part of my day.
