By Amanda Duenk
If someone were to ask me to list all the things that I “should” do on a regular basis, I could easily name 3-4 things right off the bat. I think everybody could. How many of us know what we should do with our time and with our life, yet we rarely do those things? Its super annoying…
What made it worse was when Covid hit… because suddenly, we had this abundance of time. Time to fill with things that we should do. I should finally work on that project, I should finally call that friend, I should finally read the entire Bible in 68 minutes (maybe not).
For the past year and a half, from one lockdown to the next, my mind was full things I should do. But like so many others, I was forced to slow down. And for me, slowing down meant a fresh opportunity to be productive and get.stuff.done.
I added God to that list of “getting stuff done” (rookie mistake). I thought I could use my newfound freedom to get “extra” deep with God. And I kept thinking up ways to do just that. But after spending multiple days brainstorming ways to grow deeper with God and revamping my devotional time, a thought entered my mind…
“Don’t wait… just come.”
In that moment, I knew God was challenging me. He was asking me to stop fussing about what my devotional time should look like, and instead, just simply come and be with Him.
No fanfare.
No hidden agenda.
Stop waiting… stop making excuses… just come. Spend time with Me.
It was a simple request, yet one that I had overlooked completely…
In my 4 short years as a pastor, I have noticed that many Christians want to know the same thing… “how do I grow in my relationship with Jesus?”
It’s a good question, but what so many of them are really asking is “what’s the secret? What am I missing?”
The answer is simple, yet so few of us actually do it.
The answer can be found in Luke 5:16. At this time, Jesus was growing in popularity and masses of people were following him around as he performed miracles, healed the sick, and fed the hungry. Even though he was extremely busy, Jesus modelled for us exactly what we should do with our time and everyday lives:
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16
When was the last time you entered the silence and just sat with Jesus?
Some Christians call this the practice of “solitude” or “sabbath.” Essentially, it means putting away the distractions and spending intentional one-on-one time with God. This is how to grow deeper in your relationship with God. It is not meant to be confusing or complicated.
What would happen in your life if you were to replace your name in this sentence:
“But ______ often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
What would change?
I can tell you from experience that when we take one small step towards Jesus, He comes rushing in. He never withholds Himself or hides from us. Building intimacy with God is not about jumping through hoops or having the right answers. Its about going off by ourselves, entering the silence, opening our Bibles, and talking with Jesus.
Sounds easy enough, but so many of us struggle with this! And it all comes down to a choice. You and I have to choose to do this. No one is going to force us to spend time with God, not even God himself. Until we choose to withdraw to quiet, lonely places to pray and be with God, we can expect to feel overwhelmed and restless. There is no secret solution except choosing to listen and follow when God says to us daily “don’t wait… just come.”
Even on those days when you feel far from God or have struggled with that same sin again and again or just feel worthless, God is still saying to you “don’t wait, just come.” You can never outrun, out pace, or out sin God’s immense patience. There is no need to hide or wait until you feel better, He is waiting for you to come in the middle of it all.
If you don’t know where or how to start, that’s okay, I have been there before. If I can leave you with one piece of advice, I’d say this: Start where you’re at, not where you should be.
If you can only find time for 5 minutes a day to pray, then start with 5 minutes.
If you only read one Bible verse a day, then start with one verse.
If your schedule is full, look for moments to meet with God: while you’re getting ready in the morning, while you’re driving, or set a limit on your phone/social media everyday.
Don’t rely on yourself to just remember to meet with God, but instead, set yourself up for success by setting a daily reminder to go off by yourself and pray/read your Bible. Put it in your calendar.
And on days you feel discouraged or tired or lazy, go back to Luke 5:16:
“But ______ often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
No matter what you’re feeling or facing, enter the silence and turn towards Jesus, not away from Him. He is always worth it.
My name is Amanda and I’m currently one of the young adult pastors at The Project. I love being around people, but I also love curling up with a good book for a few hours. I have a weird obsession with sharks, watermelon, and broccoli (all unrelated). I’m from a small town and always said I’d never move to the “big” city of Edmonton, but have now lived here for 10 years. Nice to meet you!
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