So what happens when you put First Things First and obey the commands of the Lord? A week ago, I shared that the Lord was telling me to do just that. Now, I was super busy and work was piling up and I felt like how could I possibly write and study when I had so much to do, but I have walked with the Lord long enough to know that when He speaks, I need to listen.
So, I did.
I like to wake up thirty minutes before I teach my first class. I usually drink my coffee and scroll through Facebook, maybe read a devotional, but really mostly scroll through Facebook.
On my schedule is to later take time with the Lord and read my devotion, go through my prayer list and write and exercise.
The problem with that is usually only a few of these things get done--definitely not all of those things. So, when the Lord whispered, "First things first," I knew what He wanted.
He was asking me to put my phone down and open my Bible--not later, but First. Then, He was asking me not to write later or if I had time, but First, before I did anything else.
So, I did. And what happened? The work I had been trying to bulldoze through, all of a sudden got finished. The accounts balanced. The number I was diligently searching for in a reconciliation jumped out at me on a page of black-and-white and BAM--beautiful reconciliation!
And, I thanked Him because I knew that when I put things in their proper order, chaos does not ensue, but growth and prosperity order my days.
And that order is all around us. Currently, we are studying a lot of science in our home school. I love reading about science and how the Lord made the world and how He fashioned man to question and ponder and think and discover! And do you know what has happened as scientists have done those things? They've come across amazing discoveries--that the world is not haphazardly thrown together, that all things have a proper order. If they didn't, life would not exist on Earth.
That's right, think of it--of the 8 planets we know, only 1 sustains life. Only 1 has water in a usable form. The other planets are a mixture of gaseous balls, so hot you would melt, so cold you would freeze, surrounded by violent, hurricane-force winds, infested with lightning, wastelands, the atmosphere so thin water would boil away! Yet, there is one planet the perfect distance from the sun with water, oxygen, a protective atmosphere, and just the right amount of gravity. There is one where the elements are just right for creating things. The atoms line up just so that when scientists were first discovering elements they realized that there was an order to them. They could be lined up in such a way that any "hole" could be left as an "undiscovered" element and years later that element would be discovered and placed in its spot based on its atomic number (i.e. the number of protons found in the nucleus). Order. And there is so much more. Rivers in the seas that cool the earth and an undiscovered way the earth seems to heal itself. The tilt of the earth that is just right so we have climates, days, nights, and seasons. Winters that only last long enough for rebirth, but not too long to kill and destroy. Summer that only lasts long enough for life, but not too long so there is no rest. Water cycles, oxygen cycles, carbon dioxide cycles, life cycles! A moon that creates tides on earth, that moves the water because without moving water, you have DEATH and stagnation. Just think of it! It is amazing how perfectly He ordered our world and OUR worlds! Yours, too!
I'm not claiming to know all things about God's order, but I do know that it isn't easy to do First Things First for me. I tend to get lazy or busy or nonchalant. I have to remind myself and He has to remind me more than I'd like to admit, but I do know that He still loves me even when I fail.
He still shows me order and reminds me of His order and rewards me when I get it right.
Genesis 2:4 God made the earth and the heavens.
On my schedule is to later take time with the Lord and read my devotion, go through my prayer list and write and exercise.
The problem with that is usually only a few of these things get done--definitely not all of those things. So, when the Lord whispered, "First things first," I knew what He wanted.
He was asking me to put my phone down and open my Bible--not later, but First. Then, He was asking me not to write later or if I had time, but First, before I did anything else.
So, I did. And what happened? The work I had been trying to bulldoze through, all of a sudden got finished. The accounts balanced. The number I was diligently searching for in a reconciliation jumped out at me on a page of black-and-white and BAM--beautiful reconciliation!
And, I thanked Him because I knew that when I put things in their proper order, chaos does not ensue, but growth and prosperity order my days.
And that order is all around us. Currently, we are studying a lot of science in our home school. I love reading about science and how the Lord made the world and how He fashioned man to question and ponder and think and discover! And do you know what has happened as scientists have done those things? They've come across amazing discoveries--that the world is not haphazardly thrown together, that all things have a proper order. If they didn't, life would not exist on Earth.
That's right, think of it--of the 8 planets we know, only 1 sustains life. Only 1 has water in a usable form. The other planets are a mixture of gaseous balls, so hot you would melt, so cold you would freeze, surrounded by violent, hurricane-force winds, infested with lightning, wastelands, the atmosphere so thin water would boil away! Yet, there is one planet the perfect distance from the sun with water, oxygen, a protective atmosphere, and just the right amount of gravity. There is one where the elements are just right for creating things. The atoms line up just so that when scientists were first discovering elements they realized that there was an order to them. They could be lined up in such a way that any "hole" could be left as an "undiscovered" element and years later that element would be discovered and placed in its spot based on its atomic number (i.e. the number of protons found in the nucleus). Order. And there is so much more. Rivers in the seas that cool the earth and an undiscovered way the earth seems to heal itself. The tilt of the earth that is just right so we have climates, days, nights, and seasons. Winters that only last long enough for rebirth, but not too long to kill and destroy. Summer that only lasts long enough for life, but not too long so there is no rest. Water cycles, oxygen cycles, carbon dioxide cycles, life cycles! A moon that creates tides on earth, that moves the water because without moving water, you have DEATH and stagnation. Just think of it! It is amazing how perfectly He ordered our world and OUR worlds! Yours, too!
I'm not claiming to know all things about God's order, but I do know that it isn't easy to do First Things First for me. I tend to get lazy or busy or nonchalant. I have to remind myself and He has to remind me more than I'd like to admit, but I do know that He still loves me even when I fail.
He still shows me order and reminds me of His order and rewards me when I get it right.
Genesis 2:4 God made the earth and the heavens.
No comments:
Post a Comment