October 2004 Devotional

Tuesday, 4pm – Need to work on a devotional for Women of Hope website. 

Wednesday, 9am – Busy cleaning.  Need to work on that devotional, but must run to the store. 

Friday, 8:30pm – Watching a good TV show.  But really need to crank out a devotional. 

Saturday, 10am – Finally have some alone time.  Wish I felt motivated to write a devotional. 

Sunday, 1pm – Reading a good book.  Should put it down and read my Bible and then work on the devotional.  Can’t seem to get around to it.  Aauugggghhh!  What is wrong with me??! 

Has this ever happened to you?  With all the best intentions you commit to something, only to see time and your energy fritter away while the project doesn’t get completed.  It can be so frustrating.

I am usually jazzed to write, preach, speak, and study.  It’s what I love to do.  But every once I find myself lacking motivation.  Instead of cherishing a special quiet time with the Lord, you would think that I was being threatened with a three-hour root canal.  And the harder I try to force myself, the more excuses I can come up with.  Oh boy, am I good at that.

Enter guilt – one of my most effective (if not most loathsome) incentives.  “What kind of Christian are you any way, Lisa?”  “Are you really a pastor?” I’ll condemningly ask myself.  Then I get even meaner.  “A real (bolded, in italics) follower of Jesus would want (highlighted in red) to spend time with the Lord. (I can practically see the enemy sneering)  What’s wrong with you?”  True, I’d confess.  So, what IS wrong with me?

Well, guess what?  We’re all human.  And from time to time we get lazy, lax, caught up in daily living, and are frustratingly carnal in our desires.  I’m not proud of it, but I will admit to it.  Despite my best efforts, I fail God often, in thought, word or deed.  It is for that very reason that I desperately need a savior.  And so do you.

Fortunately we serve a God who both knows we are frail, and believes in our potential.  His Spirit living in us can prod us on to greatness at a much greater pace than sheer guilt could ever achieve.  Our loving Father cherishes us and reminds us of his ever-present, faithful provision.  Our amazing Savior, Jesus, modeled perseverance in the context of human flesh as an encouragement to us, and beckons us onward.  His Holy Spirit is relentless in comforting us when we fail and spurs us on to walk the talk we so easily parrot.  In every way, in every day, our God is with us.  What religion comes even close to that kind of intimate engagement with humanity?!

And here’s something else amazing:  If I pay attention, I notice that God is communicating to my heart on a moment-to-moment basis.  He really is, and I know that he’s speaking to your heart too.  Sometimes we’re just not in the mood to listen.

So here I am, finally, at 9:30pm on Sunday, pounding out a few random thoughts on a patient keyboard, while God is smiling at the verse that finally got me off the bed and over to the computer.  Want to hear it?  You’re going to love it.  It’s Mark 14:38.  Most of us know it in a more traditional form that reads, “…for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”   But what really got me moving was reading that verse in “The Message.”  It goes like this:

“Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”

Touché, Heavenly Father, touché.  You know me so well.  Yes, my heart does long for God-greatness, but my flesh is often taking a lackadaisical nap.  I desperately need your Spirit to reinvigorate me and remind me of the urgency of this life’s work and the prioritization of being with and working through YOU.

No one is more patient and loving than our God.  So if you’re feeling sluggish, you’re not alone.  But there is a cure.  And it is this:  a heart that is willing to admit weakness and cry out for help.  God will never turn you away.

Love,

Lisa Kinakin