Meet our guest writer Kaitlyn!
About Kaitlyn:
You are most likely to find Kaitlyn enjoying her days as a wife and mama to her little boy. She usually has a coffee in hand, and is studying for her seminary classes during whatever bit of time to herself she can find! She gives biblical encouragement at abeautifulbelonging.com and also hangs out on IG @kaitlyn_fiedler.
Scripture:
"Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16
What exactly is time with God supposed to look like? I used to have this perception that it needed to look one certain way. I thought it should be all or nothing, and if I couldn’t get up every morning and sit down with God for one hour then I just shouldn’t spend time with God at all that day. I thought I would just have to wait until the next day when I had the time.
No, this was not from God. This was a lie that I was believing. It was my desire for control.
I was telling God when it worked for me to spend time with him and when it didn’t.
Well, I bet you can guess how that went. Days and days would pass without me even acknowledging the Lord. I would be running myself ragged trying to do everything else and at the same time feeling depleted and guilty because I hadn’t communicated with God in days.
But over time, I’ve learned two important lessons about time spent with God:
1. Time with God can look many ways
2. Anything is better than nothing.
A mentor once told me three words that have changed my perspective forever: let it go.
She said, “Kaitlyn, let go of the control that you are holding onto regarding your quiet time. Just let it go!” She encouraged me to find time with God at any time and in any place! This has been the most freeing advice I could ever receive.
Time with God can look many ways, it doesn’t have to be cookie-cutter. Yes, we need him on the DAILY… am I right? But we can seek him in anything throughout the day. I don’t know about you, but I find so much freedom in that. Anything is better than nothing.
God’s desire is simply for us to come to him- in all things.
So, my time with Him might sometimes look like listening to YouVersion on a walk, in the car, or while I’m feeding my little.
Other times it looks like taking a few minutes and writing my thoughts down to him, or maybe it’s filling my home with praise music and singing out. Maybe it’s praying to Him as I go for a walk around my neighborhood. Maybe it simply means trading out my phone for 10 minutes and picking up His Word.
Once I grasped this, I found so much freedom. And my time with Him is no longer checking something off of my list. Rather, now I’m encouraged to find Him (really seek Him) in everything!
The point is to be in communication with God daily.
When we do find the discipline to have a regular routine time with God, it’s amazing. I know my soul deeply craves that. But during the in between days or seasons, when you’re not finding that time, don’t be discouraged. You just might discover that God will meet you wherever and however you are. He desires us to draw near, and we have the freedom to do that!
--Kaitlyn
Journaling Prompts:
-How have you sensed God meet you in a way that surprised you?
-How can you seek Him more intentionally in busy seasons?
-What would it look like to seek God in creative way this week?
Action Step:
Do you feel pressure to meet God in a certain way? Spend some time in prayer receiving the freedom that Jesus gives. Invite the Holy Spirit to highlight ways you could meet with Him regularly throughout your day in your season of life.
Prayer:
God thank you for creating me uniquely and for allowing me to meet with you in a way that is unique to how you made me. Highlight opportunities to me this week to hear your voice and to draw near to you. Allow me to focus on being with you, and to find freedom in your presence. Amen.
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