The Importance of Guarding My Daily Devotionals: A Lesson Learned



One of my good friends recently got engaged and is planning a short engagement. It took me back to my own days of being engaged and counting down mere weeks from the proposal to “I do.” From the night my husband asked for my hand during a rain storm until the wedding ceremony (which also featured a freak storm that brought our outdoor nuptials inside) was 10 weeks exactly.

As any of you who have planned a wedding know, that’s pretty fast.

But despite the short time frame, the wedding came out just as lovely as I could have wanted. 

The thing is—as I recalled to my friend with a bit of firsthand, here’s-to-hindsight experience—I made the mistake of putting wedding planning first during those weeks while letting other priorities get pushed to the backburner. Priorities like God.

Whether you’re getting married in a few weeks or a few months, whether you’re working in a high-stress job, whether you’re caring for a cranky child or any other number of life experiences, we all can easily justify this mistake. 

It was so easy for me to look at everything before me that needed to be done and to just dive right in, dealing with my circumstances first rather than nurturing my soul. It was so easy for me to tackle the demanding first while letting the life-giving sit idle.

After only a few weeks of this, I found myself in a place where I hardly recognized myself anymore. I found myself in a place of faith crisis. I even called up my then-fiance and told him, “I don’t know if I believe in God anymore.”

I had never stopped loving God during that time period. I hadn’t even stopped going to church or Bible studies. I had simply stopped connecting with Him. I’d severed those ties that had bound us so closely together just a month earlier and saw how quickly it had all unwound. I saw how doing so left me feeling empty and detached from the Lord so that I questioned his very existence.

What a revelation. 

It spurred me to dig back into my faith, to pick back up my trusty Bible and pour my heart into it. To get back on my knees and pour my heart into my prayers. To reclaim the priorities that mattered most. A wedding will come and go, but faith lasts through eternity.

It’s for that reason that my daily quiet times are now a non-negotiable priority, why I contend that making time to spend one-on-one with God is the only resolution that really matters. I have been in that place where I saw the result of their absence. And I have seen how that daily investment—a daily piece of Sabbath in the mundane and the chaotic—can bring life back to a deadened heart.

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit,
and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you.
For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine,
and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me
.”
John 15:1-4

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10 comments:

  1. I am in the middle of moving, resigning from my job, and other crazy life changes. Thank you for reminding me of the one thing that matters and the One who controls it all and remains the same through all of the seasons. You radiate His love. Blessed be.
    http://www.on-bruised-knees.blogspot.com

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  2. I'm glad I read this today. Already, it has been a struggle to make time for my daily devotionals and I am reminded that even if I'm tired and ready to fall asleep, it is more important to give God the time that is His. Have a blessed day!

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  3. Amen. I've been struggling with daily focusing my heart on Him. I've been throwing off my whole morning routine (when I normally wake up, spend time with Him in the Word and praying, working out, and then heading to work) due to sickness and laziness. I hate how finicky my heart gets in those times! Thanks for reminding us all of the importance of nurturing that relationship above all else! I need to hear it.

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  4. So true! I too have got to that point, usually during the holidays when I leave my usual routine and go home to my non-Christian family. And yet when I finally pick up my bible again I always remember how much I love it, and how much I need daily time with God.

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  5. Carmen, this was exactly what I needed to hear. I've been doing the same thing as of late, and I too have wondered, "Do I even believe in God anymore?" Then I go to Sunday School and get into the Word. I realize that I do believe in God--I've just distanced myself from him. I've let some really rough situations in my life consume me and get between us. But tomorrow is a new day :) Thank you so much for this much needed reminder!

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  6. Beautifully said! Amen, we do need connecting with the Spirit inside of us that yearns for God.

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  7. Definitely. May we each find ourselves more naturally in step with Sabbath..:)

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  8. I'm so glad to have readers who love the Lord and love reading his Word! It makes me so happy, so encouraged to know that there are so many godly women out there who care about God.

    It's like it says in Hebrews, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."

    You are part of that crowd of witnesses to the life of faith for me!

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  9. Ahh--so need to hear this right now! I've been having those "do I send out one more wedding email or check our registry OR make myself quiet down and listen to the Lord" moments every morning and night!

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  10. Ahh, still reading through back entries! I love how much you inspire me!!! I had to comment though, as I'm planning a wedding for 4/26/14. In February I was hospitalized and my guy got a new job that had health insurance. We've been engaged for over 2 years. After that, we figured we should probably hurry it along, and once we were able to find out if his Dad could make the trip, we have had less than 2 months to plan everything. Luckily it is all falling into place. :)

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