My whole life my relationship with Jesus has consisted of giving him space in my day. An hour of my time before bed, or 2 hours at church each Sunday. I thought that was enough, because I was still spending time with Him almost every day. Boy I was wrong. The World Race has changed everything I thought I knew about spending time with the Lord.
Within the first couple of days on the field, our leadership team set standards for daily devotions and time with the Lord. Whether it was a short Bible study or a worship session, we would be easily spending an hour and a half with the Lord each day, and that didn’t even include our daily ministry. Already that was more than I was used to, so it never crossed my mind that I might extend that time. But I quickly discovered that that wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I fell more and more in love with spending time in the Word and even just going on long walks listening to some good Christian jams. I used to always have to schedule out time with the Lord, but I began to realize that I no longer needed to. It became easy to set down everything I was doing to go spend time with the Lord throughout the day.
I’ll admit, the first time I felt the urge to go spend time with the Lord in an ‘unscheduled’ time, I fought it. I was playing a card game and singing with my squad and I didn’t want to miss out on what everyone else was doing. I struggled with the fear of missing out a lot during the first couple of days here because with a group of 48 eager missionaries there are always at least 20 different things going on. But the first time I listened to the Lord and took a step back from everyone else, I had one of the best quiet times I have ever had.
My constant rush and need for a schedule was completely wrecked these past two weeks. It seemed at first that in the Guatemalan culture, no one respected each others time limits and schedules. Everything runs late, meetings are rescheduled frequently, and some church services have lasted over 3 hours. But when I took a step back I realized that they have more respect for each other than any culture I have seen. Families have dropped everything they are doing to have conversations with my team that may last hours, and have invited us into their houses without any notice. Pastors are willing to give people in the congregation space and time to share what God is putting on their hearts spontaneously. They show respect in the willingness to serve each other no matter what they are previously doing. We should have that same willingness when it comes to spending time with the Lord.
Jesus gave everything for us, yet we only give Him an hour of our time daily. That just doesn’t add up. I’m learning that its ok to stop my team on the way to the grocery store because I felt that we should pray for a man sitting on the side of the street or walk into a random shop and talk with a family because that is what the Lord is telling us to do. God is too big and frankly, too amazing to only get a little space in our days, we need to give the Lord our entire day. I’ve also learned that this is a daily decision. It is still super easy for me to get caught up in my plans for the day, but if I give Him space, Jesus will show me His plan for my day. And let me tell you, His plans are always so much better than my own.
Blessings,
Michelle Moxley
