I feel like I’ve been one of the most unmotivated people to write anything in the last year or so. It’s like the zeal for it has all dried up. The hard part is I can’t explain why. This makes me sad because when I do write I’m able to express myself in a way I can’t do very well verbally. I think others get who I am better because they can see a piece of me with what I share.
On April 11 I began to do my personal quiet time again after having had an extended absence away from it. The good thing is I’ve been consistently doing it daily. Keith, my hubby, thinks it helps me to be better on an overall emotional level. Things are more leveled out, even. The highs and lows are more leveled out then extreme ups and downs. I think I’m probably an easier person to be around overall. And it’s all because of having a personal quiet time each day.
The last time I shared anything from when I first started having one was back on February 26, 2016. Just a little bit of time has passed by since then. 🙂
I was talking to my friend, Joanna, and decided rather than sharing everything about every quiet time I’ve done, I should just share those that seem to be the most meaningful. I know if I got a lot out of it then maybe someone else will as well.
Today’s quiet time was especially impactful for me. I’ve been dealing with this sadness I can’t explain recently. Well, maybe for a while, but has gotten worse over time. It doesn’t take much for the sadness to kind of, I guess, consume. It’s hard to explain how I feel when I’m like this. Keith has of course noticed this as well and is worried about me. That’s just Keith though. He’s a worrier. He worries because he loves me. He has been my biggest encourager to make sure I do a personal quiet time.
Here’s a little from today’s:
Right now I am studying the Gospel of Luke. I’ve already learned a lot. Like how Luke, the author, wasn’t even around when Jesus was alive. He is from the second generation of the new church. He was also a physician.
The verses I studied today’s came from Luke 1:18-25. This is my third day on these verses so I copied down the translation from the ICB (International Children’s Version), which is an awesome version to study from even for adults. 🙂 (I will post the verses below if you’re interested in reading them.)
Here are some of the questions I answered and then my responses:
Is a specific person/being named in this passage?
Yes there were.
Who are they?
Zechariah – a priest
Elizabeth – his wife
Gabriel – an angel sent as a messenger from God
What were their relationships to the author or main character?
Zechariah and Elizabeth had been married for many years. They had been unable to have any children up to this point.
Gabriel was a direct messenger sent by God to tell Zechariah a very specific message.
Are there references to a place or event?
Yes to both a place and also an event.
The places mentioned were the Temple and also Zechariah’s home. The event was the angel appearing before Zechariah in the Temple with a very important message sent by God Himself.
What were their significance?
As for the place, I’m not entirely sure. Maybe this specific spot was chosen to show God has an ultimate plan for everything and that for the message delivered to Zechariah with his once-in-a-lifetime serving in the Temple at that exact moment goes to show just how much God is really in control. That right there is hugely important for us to realize, but not just realize but for us to fully grasp its significance in all of our lives.
In my own life, this almost sheds to new light, for me, on Mari’s life and death. I don’t know if I am the only one, although I doubt it, to still ask after almost nine years (July 16 in two-months) why God had only allowed Mari to live the eight-and-a-half years that she did. That amount of time feels incredibly short to me. She didn’t get the chance to even get to adulthood.
The thing is, Mari died at the exact moment she did for the same reasons the angel was sent to tell Zechariah the message he did and the very day Christ first died on the cross then rose again three days later. GOD KNEW IT ALL! He knew it. Why can’t we all grasp this?
The questioning that Zechariah did when the angel delivered his message, and me questioning why God allowed Mari to die when He did, along with so many others out there, are all about us questioning God and doubting who He really is and His plan. There shouldn’t be any room for doubts, especially as a believer. Doubts are like our Kryptonite. When we have them we become weaker in our walk with the Lord. Now, it may only be a momentary weakness and may only diminish it a very little. The problem is Satan himself. Right there, even if minutely small, is the opening he looks for to grow the very doubts we end up having.
It is sad, yet at the same time a relief, to know what my doubts have done not only to my relationship with the Lord, but also to myself. This sadness inside me that won’t go away is ALL Satan. My doubts about Mari and her death, all the questioning I’ve done about God allowing her to die, have done such negative things inside me. I wish I’d been able to see this before now. Then again, I think God knew I had to be fully ready first, otherwise I may not have understood or even listened.
God’s plan is powerful. Special. Important. Unique. We must always remember this and grasp this concept at all times. The harder things are in our lives the more we must cling to this knowledge. God’s plan is what will bring us the peace inside we are all always looking for. Too many of us look for it in the wrong places. God is and always will be the only way we can find it.
Luke 1:18-25
ICB
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is old, too.”
19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand before God. God sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news.
20 Now, listen! You will not be able to talk until the day these things happen. You will lose your speech because you did not believe what I told you. But these things will really happen.”
21 Outside, the people were still waiting for Zechariah. They were surprised that he was staying so long in the Temple.
22 Then Zechariah came outside, but he could not speak to them. So they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Zechariah could not speak. He could only make signs to them.
23 When his time of service as a priest was finished, he went home.
24 Later, Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant. She did not go out of her house for five months. Elizabeth said,
25 “Look what the Lord has done for me! My people were ashamed of me, but now the Lord has taken away that shame.”
There is a lot of truth here, Kristena – thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Sylvia. 🙂