Preparation not Prevention

It occurred to me the other day that another one of the Porky-Jesus ideas that we have is the purpose of our quiet time.

Have you ever gotten up late or so tired that you decided that you were going to have to forgo your quiet-time? You heart was not set on evil; it was just set on sleepy. You had not decided to make a pact with the devil or align yourself with the “powers of darkness.” You just did not have a quiet time, this time. And off you go into the day.

And as the day unfolds or unravels as the case maybe, you decide after a flat-tire or a traffic jam, or a cup holder full of coffee that what has gone wrong with your day was the absence of a quiet time. You conclude that if you had taken time for a quiet time you would not have lost that document, or picked your hose, or whatever it was that prompted the contrition.

But as I got to thinking about that approach and thinking about passages like the spiritual armor passage in Ephesians…I was reminded that we do not have quiet times to prevent difficulties and challenges in our day. We have a quiet time to prepare us to respond and be like Jesus no matter what trick, trap or mishap we or the devil might spring in our life.

The quiet time is not to make my life easier, it is to make it easier for people to see Jesus instead of my flesh! Our quiet time is where we pick up our cross, or renew our crucifixion so that it is Jesus living in us that encounters the dung of life!

So, in the morning...when you have your quiet time…ask God for combat boots not silk slippers. Ask Him for a sword, not a butter knife. Ask Him for a fire proof shield not a parasol. Ask Him to help you smell like the Rose of Sharon, no matter how deep the manure gets!