Wendy Pope
"So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies." Joshua 10:13a (NLT)
Do you need more time in your day? Has there ever been a day when you needed just a little more light to accomplish your task? If you need time, ask God for it. Time is in His hands.
In today's key verse we find Joshua in need for a little more time in his day. Joshua and the Israelite armies are in battle against five combined Amorite armies to conquer the land allotted to them after crossing the Jordan. Joshua and his men are tired. The warring for the land has been intense. As the leader, Joshua decides to travel all night for a surprise attack. We find Joshua asking God to hold the sun and moon still so they could fight.
Over a decade ago God called me to radically trust Him with my time and get up each morning before the sun rose to spend time in prayer and in His Word. "How can I do this?" I remember asking the Lord. I argued, "I am a busy wife and mother. The baby is only a few months old. I need sleep".
I obeyed, but not wholeheartedly. It never occurred to me to ask God to help me by adjusting my time so that I could walk in obedience to Him as well as take care of all my other responsibilities.
My problem wasn't that I did not want to know God better through prayer and His Word. My problem was that I believed I could manage the time in my day better than He could. I believed the lie that told me I was in control, arranged my day, and accomplished much. The lie told me I did not need God for the little details of my day-to-day living. The lie told me I did not need to tithe the first fruits of my day to God. The lie, lied.
Like the Southern Kings were defeated, so was my lie. Over the last decade I have learned to call on God like Joshua to "let the sun and moon stand still" so that I can accomplish what He has ordained for me to accomplish. It is my desire to be at peace with His timing and not to complete my checklist. Do I believe He has held time in His hands for me? Yes I do. How can that be? He is God, the great I AM, and the Creator of time. I am just a little "i am not" enjoying the story of God one day at a time. Will you trust Him to hold your time in His nailed-scarred hands?
Dear Lord, help me know You are good. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
The Yes, No, and Maybe of a Balanced Life CD by Wendy Pope
i am not, but i know I AM by Louie Giglio by Louie Giglio
Wendy and over 1000 others are reading the One Year Chronological Bible together. Join them for the last half of the year by visiting Wendy’s blog.
Application Steps:
Choose a place for your time with the Lord. Set your alarm clock 10 minutes earlier to spend time with Him. Ask Him to help you set your agenda for the day and accomplish what He needs you to accomplish. Record in a journal what God teaches you about your time.
Reflections:
What or who determines your schedule?
What can you do to slow down your pace?
Do you trust God to be in charge of your daily routine? If not, why? If yes, praise Him for His work in your life.
Power Verses:
Genesis 1:3-5, "Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day' and the darkness 'night.'" (NLT)
Ecclesiastes 3:1, "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." (NLT)
Ecclesiastes 3:11a, "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time." (NLT)
© 2009 by Wendy Pope. All rights reserved.
"So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies." Joshua 10:13a (NLT)
Do you need more time in your day? Has there ever been a day when you needed just a little more light to accomplish your task? If you need time, ask God for it. Time is in His hands.
In today's key verse we find Joshua in need for a little more time in his day. Joshua and the Israelite armies are in battle against five combined Amorite armies to conquer the land allotted to them after crossing the Jordan. Joshua and his men are tired. The warring for the land has been intense. As the leader, Joshua decides to travel all night for a surprise attack. We find Joshua asking God to hold the sun and moon still so they could fight.
Over a decade ago God called me to radically trust Him with my time and get up each morning before the sun rose to spend time in prayer and in His Word. "How can I do this?" I remember asking the Lord. I argued, "I am a busy wife and mother. The baby is only a few months old. I need sleep".
I obeyed, but not wholeheartedly. It never occurred to me to ask God to help me by adjusting my time so that I could walk in obedience to Him as well as take care of all my other responsibilities.
My problem wasn't that I did not want to know God better through prayer and His Word. My problem was that I believed I could manage the time in my day better than He could. I believed the lie that told me I was in control, arranged my day, and accomplished much. The lie told me I did not need God for the little details of my day-to-day living. The lie told me I did not need to tithe the first fruits of my day to God. The lie, lied.
Like the Southern Kings were defeated, so was my lie. Over the last decade I have learned to call on God like Joshua to "let the sun and moon stand still" so that I can accomplish what He has ordained for me to accomplish. It is my desire to be at peace with His timing and not to complete my checklist. Do I believe He has held time in His hands for me? Yes I do. How can that be? He is God, the great I AM, and the Creator of time. I am just a little "i am not" enjoying the story of God one day at a time. Will you trust Him to hold your time in His nailed-scarred hands?
Dear Lord, help me know You are good. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
The Yes, No, and Maybe of a Balanced Life CD by Wendy Pope
i am not, but i know I AM by Louie Giglio by Louie Giglio
Wendy and over 1000 others are reading the One Year Chronological Bible together. Join them for the last half of the year by visiting Wendy’s blog.
Application Steps:
Choose a place for your time with the Lord. Set your alarm clock 10 minutes earlier to spend time with Him. Ask Him to help you set your agenda for the day and accomplish what He needs you to accomplish. Record in a journal what God teaches you about your time.
Reflections:
What or who determines your schedule?
What can you do to slow down your pace?
Do you trust God to be in charge of your daily routine? If not, why? If yes, praise Him for His work in your life.
Power Verses:
Genesis 1:3-5, "Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day' and the darkness 'night.'" (NLT)
Ecclesiastes 3:1, "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." (NLT)
Ecclesiastes 3:11a, "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time." (NLT)
© 2009 by Wendy Pope. All rights reserved.
Labels: Balance, Perseverance, Prayer, Time with God
14 Comments:
Oh, how I still struggle with this. I will do so good for awhile and then I slack off, for whatever excuse I try to give.
As I type each post on these blogs, I realize how often I use the word 'I'. I also realize how much I seem to be taking things out of the Lords hands and placing them back into my slippery fingers.
Thank you, Wendy for this post this morning. God is so good to know what we need to hear and when!
I'll be setting my alarm clock 20 minutes ahead tonight.(this way if I hit snooze the first time, I still have time.) ;-)
Ahhhh... thank you. God has been showing up for me in a huge way this week through these devotions. Today's was mark on as well. Thank you so much for the encouragment.
Oh, the Lord God is good, I give God my schedule and to do list every day and ask him for my portion... and he delivers! EVERY time! my days are amazing because he is Good all the time!
The author and creator of all cares for me, yes little me :)
Your encouragement is spot on. Thank you.
Oh what a devotion. I still struggle with this also. At times when I wake up I struggle to remain focused on God in my prayer. Help me to remain focused on you God and to overcome my weakness. Also Many times in my prayers its me asking God to do what I want to do on that day, not me asking God help me to accomplish what He wants me to accomplish!! Help me Lord to give my schedule to you and to stay focused on you all the time.
CT
Oh yes !!God is good
Thank you for such a powerful encouraging words.
I know "Time is in His Hands" but I haven't allowed Him to manage my daily times.Now on i give my schedules to Him to manage..Thank you
I am the go to girl. God has blessed me with many talents and the energy to accomplish them. However, I am also a yes person and sometimes I find that I have over booked myself.Fear would grip me until I realized I could give it all to Him. When I find myself in trouble I call on Him and He has never once failed me. Someone will call and cancel or something will get postponed. I know it is Him working out the small details of my life. I have a son who is just like me. We love to have coffee together and talk about how God has ordered our day.We will often confess to each other how we have once again said yes to too many good things and we commit to pray for each other about our schedules. Again, God has never failed to come through.I must confess that my son has caught on to this at a much younger adult age then I did. Thanks for the encouragement today.
All that I can say to this is: "WOW"!
"VERY POWERFUL"!
It's so beautiful how you can think that you are the only one who needs the Lord, but he is speaking to so many people about the same thing.
I needed this! Wow, Wow, Wow!! lol
I love you! Continue to allow the Lord, to use you so that he can be glorified. I praise his Holy Name for this ministry. I just pray that the Lord will continue to use all of you for his glory, and bless you abundantly, and more abundantly. In Jesus Name Amen
Thank you so much. I have been overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to do in order to graduate in time for a new job I've been offered. The last stretch of my master's degree is really taking a toll on me to where I get fatigue and depressed knowing there is not enough hours in a day or strength in me. I feel helpless and my future hangs on the balance. It's great to know that I do not have to listen to my feelings and that God is my strength and my helper. He is faithful and will see us through.
Wendy,
Thanks so much for this devo. A few years ago, God led to get up early so that I could hear His voice before I listen to anyone else. Sometimes, I get off track for a few days and have to re-group.
The following verse helps:
Morning by morning He awakens me. Awakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
I paraphrased this verse and am sorry that I don't have the scripture reference. I'll try to post the reference on your blog.
Thank you for sharing with us.
The verse from the previous post is Isaiah 50:4
The verse from the previous post is Isaiah 50:4
Dear Wendy,
Thank you for your powerful words and encouragement. They hit home for me. I have been struggling with this and your devotion spoke directly to my heart. I know God is good ALL the time and wants us to enjoy the abundant life and blessings He has for us each day. It's not about "our" agenda, but about "HIS" agenda...He will lead us. All He asks of us is to trust Him. To be still and know He is God. To be ready and available when He calls. And to be obedient to His will, for He IS God, the great I AM.
Dear Lord, please help me to seek Your agenda for my life, not mine. In Jesus' Name, Amen and Thank you, Lord!
Zoe
I confess that I am struggling with this too. I had a good habit of getting up early going and then got messed up. God has been speaking to me about it. Thank you, Lord, for not giving up on me. This is just the encouragement I needed. It pointed out my sin in thinking that I could manage my time better than God. This sin of unbelief that He is able to give me the strength to get through a tough day. I love the fact that I am not the only person struggling with this. I will set my alarm earlier as suggested and above all, trust God.
I have kept this devotion so I can read it over and over. I too have gotten up early in the past and will do well for a week or so and then things change.
For me to get up and have time before anyone else gets up, I would have to get up at 5:30am. I love having time alone in the morning, but with a 4 year old who doesn't have a regular sleeping schedule, it is hard to make things work.
I try to find time during the day, but once my day has begun I stay so busy, before I know it, it is bedtime which ranges from 9pm to 11pm or later. There is always something that has to be done.
I really need prayer for me to allow God to control my time and days. As I previously said, I am keeping this devotion to read often.
Thanks for sending devotions to my inbox, that is one place I seem to go everyday. Thanks for the encouragement. God bless you and all that you do for Him.
rb
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