Quiet Time

I really identified with Candice Watter's post on "early morning quiet time" on the Boundless blog.

http://www.boundlessline.org/2007/09/the-early-part-.html

I am becoming more and more dependent on "quiet time" not necessarily just in the morning, but at some point during the day I feel the need to the read, rest, and refocus. If I'm having a bad day sometimes it's worse if I missed my "quiet time." My room is also my sanctuary when I am down, or feeling unrest, or just need some time to be alone with God.

There is just something about time alone. I like to use time alone in my car to pray, but even that has its own distractions. (And don't close your eyes to pray while driving, either. ;) ) I can understand the reasoning behind: "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:6) Praying in secret not only avoids the appearance of a legalistic "religious" attitude, but it also eliminates the common distractions and keeps our eyes on Him. We are human, and our flesh needs all the help we can get!

I like to take a mug of herb tea upstairs and take some time to restore my soul. The funny thing is, I nearly always drink lukewarm tea, because I get wrapped up in what I am reading and forget to drink it for an hour! :) Sometimes I go for a walk. It just helps so much to refocus if we can tune the world out.

One devotional I am reading now is Whispers of His Power, by Amy Carmichael. It has inspirational thoughts divided by the days in a year. (This is just one devotional book I am going through, I have a reputation for reading multiple books at a time. :) ) This quote was a recent encouragement.

"In the day that we see Him all will be clear. The mysteries which now perplex us will be illuminated. One day we shall see the glory to our glorious God and the good to all of us contained in the disappointment we cannot understand.
So let us live as those who believe this to be true. Let us praise before we see. Let us thank our Lord for trusting us to trust Him."
-Amy Carmichael