Ever felt like you were hanging on by a thread?
I have, and this time of year tends to bring out that feeling in me. To help with this, I am going to focus on my grip. Specifically, I'm going to pay close attention to what I'm holding onto. Is it worth the effort of gripping?
Let my heart hold fast your words. Proverbs 4:4
It matters very much whose words I hang onto. I can hold onto harsh words, or even untrue words. I can focus on things I am telling myself, or what others are saying about me. The words that actually matter are God's words, they are the only ones that have power over circumstances.
The more I hang tight to God's word, the more I find it speaking directly to my day. When I don't just read the words, but repeat them, write them out, ask God about how they apply to me, and pray through them, I gain a good grip on them. Then, What I read in the wee hours of the morning seems to find its way into my situations.
This is my prayer every day this week. You can steal it no matter what you are reading through, a devotion, the book of Luke, an advent study. If you go slowly with focus, God will point to something you should take into the day. If you are like me, I can hear from God first thing, and then easily forget what he said before lunch. Writing down the verse or section that spoke to me helps me cement it in my mind. Praying it then invites it to work truth in my life.
These steps that go beyond reading have helped me so much. I know everyone is short on time, but this is some of the best time you can spend. It gets us beyond being hearers of the word only.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but,
letting the Word go in one ear and out the other.
Act on what you hear!
James 1:22 Message
Hold them fast, and they will take root. To accomplish this, I have to do more than read them. I have to make space for them to speak to me. I have to be quiet and not move on, but hold on in the moments and listen. That’s hard for us to do. Everything in our lives is moving fast, but this is worth slowing down.
Help me hold fast your words in my heart where my emotions struggle to take charge.
Let my heart hold fast your words so they take root and strengthen my soul.
Loosen my grip on the things I hang onto in my heart that need to go
like jealously, bitterness, or anxiety just to name a few.
Let this practice of slowing to hear you anchor my heart in the overwhelm of this season.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Comments