Solitude: 1 Corinthians 7:25-40
So these past couple of days I have been spending some solitude time with God and the verses that have really been resonating with me are verses 28-31. I couldn’t agree more that those who marry will face many troubles. I am married and we have faced many troubles as I am sure most couples do. That’s why it’s so important to work hard at your marriage and not expect for it to just happen. We likely face more problems today than the early Churches years ago or maybe not perhaps the problems we face today are just different. Lets just take the advance in technology and use it as an example. We never had such easy access to view and interact anonymously 24/7 as we do today all because of the internet and computers. This presents such a temptation for everyone married or not even our kids to do anything on line we want. We have to place so many boundaries in our lives just to guard and protect ourselves and our families it can be overwhelming. I have learned that praying for wisdom really helps in these areas and I ask God to reveal to me anything that I am over looking or have become desensitized to. The internet is also a great tool the devil uses to just soak up our time. Time we could be using to spend with God, our spouses, our children and time we could be using to get rest and go to bed! VS 29 says, “Time is short” and we all know this. I know I’ve spent time of the computer and than looked a the clock and the idea I had to go to bed early is now just that, an idea. We are all guilty of allowing things that are not important to soak up our time in ways that are wasteful. It could be the computer, TV, a hobby, shopping, a busy social life, and many other things. VS 31 says, “Those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” This brings me back to 1 Corth 6:12 “Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial…but I will not be mastered by anything.” I read this last week and it really ties into what is convicting me today. A lot of things that absorb my time are not bad things but who is the boss of my time and what is it that sets my tone for my day? Is is the chore list ? Is it the idea that I just need so ‘me time’? Is is food? Or is it a free fall. I wonder what sets the tone for my day. Is there any time or flexibility for God to use me in a way I hadn’t plan or do I just ignore His voice to help a friend. I bet if I had all my priorities right I would get a lot more done, and spend more time with God. We are the boss, God gave us free will so what will we do with it?
My mom has been waking up at the wee hrs of the morning to go swimming three times a week for YEARS now. She says this time of the year when the car is covered in snow in the morning she thinks “ugh maybe I won’t go” but than sometime in the afternoon on those snowy days she is proud to call me and let me know that she was the boss of herself and didn’t let the snow be the boss of her and she did her swim 🙂
We are accountable to God for what we do and we need to accountable to one another too. If you don’t have someone to be accountable to get someone that has the same morals and values as you and get accountable it really helps.
Please share in the comment space below any encouraging thoughts you have about this post or how you’d like to take steps to be more productive with your time. I’d love to hear peoples thoughts about plans to regain your position as boss (in a God honoring way) and get control of something in your life you have let slip. For me I have definitely let my time with God fall by the way side which is why I am so excited about starting an on-line SCC group this coming Sunday and writing posts twice a week about this journey!
If it’s your marriage that you need to invest more time in please leave a comment so I can email you some info on an amazing Family Life one day conference we are having at our Church Feb 25. It’s $60/couple to register and from my experience it will be a life changing day. Be the boss of what your marriage looks like.
Thanks for joining me in the clay,
Chantal Dube