I have to say that I have come to love my Good Morning Girls online studies. I am not participating in a group this time, but using my You Version Bible Ap Good Morning Girls plan to follow along with the study.
The first study of the year we are doing is about being intentional in everything we do and this week we have been focused on being intentional about getting alone with God.
Luke 5:16 states, "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Mark 1:35 says it this way, "Very early in the morning while it was still dark (long before daylight, in the night) Jesus got up and left the house and went off to a solitary (deserted, secluded) place where He prayed."
In Ephesians 5:1 it says this, "Follow God's example therefore as dearly loved children."
We are to follow His example in all that we do. This means we too should be getting away in quiet places with the LORD to pray. It says Jesus OFTEN withdrew to these places. It wasn't a one time deal or something He did sporadically. He got away OFTEN. How often do you get to get away with the LORD and spend time in prayer and in the WORD hearing from Him? Afterall if the Son of God needed these times, how much more do I?
It also says that Jesus did this during the night hours. As a mom of three kids who start talking the moment their feet hit the ground each day I have come to appreciate those early morning hours that I "get up" as Jesus did while it is "still dark" and I sneak downstairs to spend those quiet moments with the LORD. I try to keep things dark so as not to disturb or wake anyone so I can steal away those quiet moments when it is solitary and I can be alone with my LORD and Savior. I turn on my phone Bible ap or my computer and sit in the dark and read and pray.
On this particular morning though things were out of sorts in our home because of some winter weather we are experiencing. Schools were uncertain as to whether or not they would close or delay and we were just here waiting for answers trying to be prepared for all scenarios. The kids were all up and talking and playing and it was anything but quiet around here. There were phone calls and texts and lunches to be made and breakfasts to be gotten. My oldest daughter brought home school work that needed done or atleast started on in case of delay. And to top it off my three-year-old son woke up extra early and I did not get to withdraw with the LORD in the early morning as I like to do.
So I got up with him and put on a Veggie Tales episode buying myself a little time to do my GMGs Bible study. I still felt uneasy, off schedule and out of sorts though.
Finally schools made their decisions at the last minute and school was finally called off for the day.
I then followed Jesus' example. I pushed the kids off to work on their own projects in their own rooms and I found a solitary place in my home. I logged on to one of my other online Bible studies and read these words, "The LORD is my Shepherd ... He leads me beside quiet waters ..." How refreshing were those words to my soul after the morning we had already had. I needed those words and that quiet moment to withdraw to. God is so good to lead me there to those quiet waters!
God indeed is my Shepherd. Every need I have or could possibly have is met in Him and nothing and no one else can ever meet those needs. God alone is sufficient. Only through Him there is quietness and contentment. As I learn to delight more and more in Him and withdraw to those quiet places with Him I find times of refreshment and rest and tranquility that we often seek in our busy lives.
Come to me Christ says and He will give you rest. (Matthew 11)
I pray that you will find those times to often withdraw to and that you would find the rest and restoration that you need in order that your soul will be refreshed in order to accomplish all that God has for you to do.
Blessings Abundant,
Michelle
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