E — Enter Into Quiet Time
Originally posted at http://tarsoxjr.blog
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Enter into more quiet time with God
“My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.” Psalm 119:148
This is an area that I took very seriously as I was making the decision to leave my job without a job. I was raised you don’t quit one until you have another one. I believe this is wise advice overall and I do not advocate anyone going out quitting their job with no savings, no retirement and desire to own expensive cars, clothes jewelry etc. This took preparation, not a couple of months but many long years as I developed my career, network and a skill set valued by many and made many, many mistakes. I’ll write another blog on my career and how I navigated the last 20 years as well, but back to the topic at hand. To make a decision that went against everything I was taught took a lot of soul-searching.
I have historically been the “I will never be able to read the Old Testament” or Bible for that matter kind of guy and used that excuse for many, many years. The truth is you can do anything you determine is a priority, now I’m not going to sit here and tell you I read the entire Bible before making this decision. In fact what I’ll tell you is January 2016 I started a year-long reading plan with The Bible Project (these guys are awesome!)…and I’m just finishing up the Old Testament as of April 2017! So there I admit it, I read about every other day on average. What I did do however was spent more time thinking and praying about what God was calling me to do, and as importantly how do I get out of the way. I didn’t necessarily do this at the same time every day but I was in a constant state of reflection and asking for guidance in the quiet moments. Moments when I was in my dad’s truck, when I was out for a run or on my boat fishing. My mind is constantly churning anyway so during this time I would focus that effort on gaining clarity in this decision.
It’s easy in these situations to be focused on grabbing the steering wheel and not listening to what your heart has to say. There is a great quote from Steve Jobs “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” The important thing here is the only way to listen to yourself or listen to God is to be still and be quiet. This is something I have heard a lot of from our church’s leadership and it is so true. We all get bombarded on a daily basis with so much to do, so many places to be that we are in a constant state of “busy”. I say this in quotes because I have not met anyone who isn’t busy, I know people who work tons of hours, “I’m busy”, I know people without jobs, “I’m busy”, hell I say it to my kids. When you are busy but not gaining ground it means you haven’t taken the time to figure out what or who really matters.
I focused not only on reading the Bible more often but spending more time with my family as well as keeping a list of people, struggles of friends, my job all in a note on my phone. Each morning, or at least most mornings, I sit quietly in my office secluded from the world, in silence just thinking of those people, my circumstance or things that have been laid on my heart. It is absolutely the best way to start any day, no matter who you are or what you believe.
Try this for 1 week, wake up in the morning and DON’T look at your phone, don’t look at messages, not FaceBook, not that super urgent SnapChat message you missed last night…none of it. Go about your normal routines (coffee first!) then sit down with yourself and start your day with about 20 minutes of silence and being present and thoughtful. Think and pray about those you love and care about, areas of your life you want to improve, your kids etc. I have better days when I do this and even knowing that…I don’t do it every day, go figure stupid imperfect humans.
Give yourself time each day and listen to your inner voice and where it is leading you. It is so much more fulfilling and satisfying when you stop talking so much and just listen.
Next post C — Cease Anxious Thoughts
