Thursday, March 10, 2011

Give God our Calendar

I was sitting at a fast-food restaurant (should we actually still use the word restaurant in the same sentence as fast-food?) drive through recently. I had ordered my dabble of food -- burger, fries and, defying logic, diet Coke. I was waiting, again defying logic for one should not have to wait for fast-food, when I thought, as I often do, about God. I spend more time thinking of God in my car that I do in my office. I often ponder why that is.

I had not thought of God on this day in a while. I began the morning with fairly intense and certainly sincere thoughts of God. I asked for protection and for direction, for I've learned that as the sun rises each day so does my need for God's direction and help and will. I'm lost without Him, I've learned, so the need to call on Him is there every bit as real as my need for the diet Coke to balance the horrendous amount of calories found in the burger and fries. But as the morning drifted by, my thoughts of God did the same. No longer was He first and foremost. He was stuffed in the middle of form filling and call making and visitation planning.

Even as I did my sermon preparation, looking up various passages and illustrations -- doing so quickly of course so that I could begin writing, the part I like -- I didn't actually think about Him all that much. No, I pull Him out of my back pocket for the big things, like where did all the money in the savings account go or should I go see a doctor about my aches and my pains and if so, which of the aches and pains should I go see the doctor about? Should I make a list of pains, like the 1-through -10 pain list that I've never felt I have gotten right. How does one tell the difference between a pain score of four as opposed to a six? Should one?

Anyway, this all came back to me this morning as I read Scot McKnight's second day of 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed.

The notion of "loving God with every ounce of our being" is a quaint one. How does one go about doing that in a world that has so many distractions? Even sitting in the fast-food line, one has so many "thought" options. How does one put God at the top? McKnight says that to "love God this way means to offer to God all that we are and to enjoy God's presence." Whew. That's a chunk of loving. But it is what He calls for, so we just dive into a creek in which we do not know the depth.

How?

I think we begin with intent. Even with all that is going on that threatens to steal minutes (seconds?) from God, our intention is the place we begin. Seek the Lord's face is an expression I have come upon that sums it up for me. To seek the face of God means we have moved closer to Him. It is an expression of intention. It means there is some action going on, even if it is small. It means we are trying.

After intent, I believe we must plan. I've discovered over time that without my scheduling book, I'm as lost as a man without a GPS in a city without street markers. I have PDAs and other scheduling material, but my good, ol' book is important because it is another sign of intention. I have to take it out of my notebook and I have to find a pen, and I have to write it down. It takes a plan, and it takes intent. I have to mean it, and I have to go through the same process to start my day, each day. What does this day bring, I ask myself as I go in search of the scheduling book. With our relationship with God, it's the same. My intention is to grow closer. My plan is to seek Him, through a real prayer life (Lord, help me find the scheduling book), and through planning time with him.

Finally, after becoming intent and cobbling together a plan, there is work to be done. I'd love to say that my time alone with God is as easy as Sunday morning coming down, but it's work. It's like taking my wife to one of those self-described chick flicks. I get to enjoy the previews before the flick, but that's about it. Nothing blows up in the whole movie, so for me, what's the point? I'm not equating time spent with God being about blowing things up, but I am saying that it takes intent, a plan and then the ability to work the plan. I plan to spend 30 minutes with him tonight, so I must take that 30 minutes away from all the other things I might do this day. I work the plan, intentionally, not accidently.

Should it be simpler? Probably. But for me, this is what it is.

I love God with all that I am, but all that I am is a scattered, messed up and messy human. My organization needs organizing. So, I must come up with ways to wipe the schedule clean. For me, that's not as easy as it might be for others. But that 30 minutes, by the action of the Holy Spirit, can become an hour, or maybe this day it's 15 minutes, or whatever. I schedule down time, but I let the Holy Spirit move in those minutes, as well.

Loving God, McKnight says, is giving God our heart, soul, mind and strength. I would add to that giving him our calendar.

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