Available: Breaking Through “Busy” to Connect with GodEsimerkki

Shift Have you ever tried to be available by putting God first in an area of your life, but it didn’t quite go the way you wanted? Maybe you were going to pray at least 10 minutes every day or you were going to start reading your Bible more, but somehow, life got in the way. Why is it so hard to put God first? Maybe it’s because we think that in order to make God a priority, it means we need to give Him most of our time and energy. When we think about our average day, the idea of making time for God seems impossible. Making Him a priority can feel like a losing battle. Cue the guilt. Cue the frustration. But what if we’ve got the wrong definition of “priority”? What if our checklist for connecting with God is actually getting in the way of us being available? We need a perspective shift. Maybe, instead of making God first , we could make Him the center . Rather than seeing God as the first checkbox on a long list of demands, you can shift the way you see your relationship with Him. Look at your life as a pie chart with God as a circle in the very center of it. If He’s at the center, it means He’s touching every other part of your life that makes up the chart. Time alone with God is good — and important — but having Him as the center also means He’s in that stressful meeting with you when you need confidence. You can stop and pray for patience before you discipline your child for the third time that day. You can talk to Him while you’re walking through the grocery store or pumping gas. God wants to do life with you. What parts of your life have you been holding back from Him or trying to do by yourself? It’s time to shift. Give yourself the freedom to make all the spaces in your life available to God, and watch your relationship with Him grow stronger.