The other morning I was hurrying to get ready to go someplace and noticed my makeup didn’t look right.  I turned on the bathroom light, which I’d neglected to do, and noticed my eyebrows looked reddish and my lips looked brown.  In my rush I’d used my eyebrow pencil as my lip liner and my lip liner as my eyebrow pencil.  Yuck!!  And taking it off took more time that I didn’t have! Finally, with the light on, I redid my face and finished getting ready.

I’ve noticed it has been that way sometimes in my Quiet Time schedule too.  I get in such a rush to get on with my day that I forget to take time to spend with Jesus.  Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Jesus is the Light, and I need to spend time with Him each day and receive the light He has for me for my day.  When I run off before praying and asking God what His plans are for me I’m in trouble.  I need to relax and seek His guidance for the day.  If I don’t, I’m operating in the dark.  And if I get busy doing the wrong thing, it takes time to undo it and get on the right track.  

I remember years ago when God taught me that lesson.  One day my schedule was so busy that I didn’t see how I could get everything done.  That morning in my Quiet Time I talked to God about it, but I also prayed that if He had other plans for me I’d be available.  

I got busy with my day and that morning a friend called and needed my help.  I told her I had time, and I met with her about a Spiritual problem she was having.  When we finished, she left and I got back to work, thankful that I had been available.  

That evening as I looked over my list of things I had to do that day, I realized that everything got done, I wasn’t stressed, and I hadn’t been rushed.  God had been in charge of my time.  

Sometimes we get stressed because of the urgency of dailiness and don’t consider giving God control of our time.  We miss out on one of His greatest blessings when we neglect the needs He has for us to fill.  He has put together the people in our lives and He has created each of us with gifts to use to help or encourage them.  Simple acts of kindness and friendship are valued by God, but sometimes we are so busy rushing to get to the next thing on our list that we don’t take time to offer them.

Remember, each day has another 24 hours for each of us to use.  Meeting with God for even 15 minutes each morning is only 1/96th of that time, and in that 15 minutes you can read a passage of Scripture and communicate with God in prayer.  Really, we can’t say we don’t have enough time for that.  We need to turn on the Light of God’s Word and communicate with Him to get our direction for the day, and ask Him to be in charge of our schedule.  It’s a time to offer ourselves to Him to be available to be used by Him and be guided by Him on the path He has for us.  

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”  With His word to guide me and shine a light on my path I won’t have to be rushed.  And I’ll have time to share His light with others. Matthew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”