I am going to be vulnerable with you for a second. Something I really struggled with in the first week of being in the Philippines was finding quiet time alone with God. Everywhere I looked I was surrounded by noise and people. Right outside where we live there is a market and the streets are constantly filled with people and cars going back and forth. Oh, and not to mention the market opens at 3:30 in the morning so around here it’s never really quiet. I’m the type of person who needs to be completely by myself without any noise or distractions and the first week that seemed incredibly impossible.
One night I had an awesome idea. I was going to wake up the next morning at 4 am and go out on top of the balcony and spend time with just me and God. The morning came and I was ready. I grabbed my Bible, notebook, and headphones and headed to the balcony. I was so excited. It was 4 am and no one from my team was awake and I was ready to spend a solid hour in His presence. It started off good, but all the sudden about 20 minutes into it someone from my squad walks out. They sit down right next to me and we begin talking. Me not wanting to be rude continues in the conversation and before I know it, it’s time for breakfast. I went to breakfast feeling totally discouraged wondering how I was ever going to get to spend time with God without any distractions.
Feeling really disconnected from God because of the lack of time I was spending with Him, later that day I found myself in the nursery at the children’s home talking to a friend about what I was feeling. I began to explain to her how it was a struggle for me to find time alone with God without any noise or distractions. I felt like everywhere I turned someone was there, and then seconds later God totally met me where I was at. I found myself sitting all by myself in the nursery, just me and the babies. Two were asleep and I was rocking the other one. The room was so quiet. Music was playing softly, the lights were out, and the sun was shining in the most perfect way. As I began rocking the little baby to sleep, I was able to spend an hour talking back and forth with God and sitting still in His presence; it was just what I needed.
I realized that my expectations of what quiet time with the Lord looks like is not always what we expect. He used that moment in the nursery to change my perspective on what quiet time with Him will look like on the World Race. Since then has been giving me other moments throughout the day to just rest in His presence. Ever since World Race Launch I have realized the importance of resting and sitting still in God’s presence and how important it is. Sometimes it may only be five minutes, but it’s usually the best 5 minutes of my day.
Much love, Calin
