Have you ever had that one friend that over time you just grew apart from? They stopped calling as much, or you did, life just got in the way and you didn't see each other as much. You went from hanging out every week to hardly seeing each other in months. Eventually, you stop hearing from them altogether and they're just a person from your past. Perhaps you say life just got "too busy" and you didn't have time to see them as much anymore.
My point is this: if you don't spend time with someone, you become disconnected. This is true for all your relationships, including your relationship with God.
Do you ever wonder why you're not hearing from God? Why you feel so disconnected? Perhaps you think he's abandoned you?
But have you took the time to examine yourself and your own life? The Bible tells us that God is always there - we just need to seek him. Maybe the reason you feel disconnected from God is because you have allowed yourself to be disconnected from him. You're going to lose intimacy if you don't actively seek him.
The hardest thing for me in my walk with God has been spending consistent daily time with God. Life can sometimes be so hectic and tiring that when it comes to the end of the day all I feel like doing is crashing on a sofa and watching TV aimlessly and then shooting off to bed. But here is when the enemy can really get us. If you're disconnected from God, then you have no defence or power to fight temptations. Thoughts can creep in that are not from God, you might start to feel worthless and unloved. You start to lose sight of God's promises. If you're not spending time with God then you are missing the most important purpose in your life which is to know and love him. The number one commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. If you're too busy then you are putting everything else above that.
God didn't put you on this planet to check off your "to do" list. Yes, it is good to do different activities and go out there and live life to the fullest but it is all futile if we are not putting God first. Even if you are doing things that you think are for God - if your prayer life is empty and your Bible is dusty, then the enemy is still winning. Remember you are in a daily battle. Your spirit will wear out if you don't give it the daily fuel it needs.
When you spend time with God, you become more like him. Doing good and loving others will start to come more naturally, things that seemed a chore before will be a pleasure instead because you will want to please God. And that desire will only come if you are in an intimate relationship with him.
So what are your priorities?
If you say you are "too busy" for God, then you are too busy. It's not that you don't have enough time (God gave us 24 hours in a day; there's plenty of time!), it's that your priorities are wrong. Don't try and fit God into your schedule, make your schedule fit around your prayer time. And don't just spend time with God for ten minutes in the morning and then forget about him for the rest of the day. Include God in everything that you do ("In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight" - Proverbs 3:6). Don't just think "well I made time for God this morning so that's me good for the day." We're talking about "making time" for the creator of time! He deserves every second of our day. Give him thanks throughout the day, honour him in the way you treat those around you, glorify him in your actions - just don't push him to one side.
I used to really struggle with spending time with God because I just simply didn't have a desire to spend time with him. I knew I loved God but the idea of picking up my Bible and praying seemed like such a burden to me - which I knew God didn't want for me (God says "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30). So one day I sat down and I was honest with God. I told him that although I wanted to know him more, I lacked the desire and strength to. I prayed that God would put a desire in my heart to want to seek him daily and that's exactly what God did. One day I just had this great desire to pick up my Bible, and at first when I started reading, I got distracted every ten seconds. My mind would wander and I'd start yawning but eventually, when I focused again, I couldn't help but be drawn in. Every single time I sat down and studied his word, I felt lighter. But the next day would always be a struggle again. However, I found the more time I spend with him, the more of a desire I have to do it again and again.
If you're that person who finds it hard to pick up their Bible, I want to ask you to push through. Put aside your feelings and emotions and do it anyway. The first few times are the hardest but it gets easier, and you will get to the point where it's no longer even a question, you just do it. I'm still not perfect, sometimes I go days or even weeks without any God time and that is when my spirit is most weak. But whenever I come back to God, he fills me up again.
Pray for a desire and take the unecessary things off your schedule. There's always time for him. Maybe you can spend some time in the morning putting on your favourite worship song and meditating on his word. Maybe you prefer the evenings, but whenever it is - just do it.
Jesus is a perfect example of what it means to seek God. Numerous time in the Bible we see Jesus going to a solitary place and crying out to God:
"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Mark 1:35
"After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone." Matthew 14:23
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." Luke 6:12
"During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission." Hebrews 5:7
Don't forget that God LOVES it when you seek him. He wants a relationship with you. He misses you when you don't spend time with him. He is always there waiting for you with open arms - make the choice of running to him and not the world.
"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
