I wore a new dress to church service last Sunday, and I was pretty excited about wearing it too, even preparing my outfit the night before! In fact, I think I thought more about my dress, than I did about preparing my heart for service!
Sunday morning started off like normal, and I had good intentions of reading my Bible, praying and meeting with the Lord before church service... but social media caught my attention first thing... and then a whole 45 minutes of my morning was wasted!
Time got away from me of course. Distractions have a tendency to do that - especially social media, and then my heart and mind were off in lala land, I was definitely not focused on preparing my heart for church.
An hour later, I had my new dress on and out the door in a dash!
As I was driving to church, I thought, "Well, I might as well spend my time in the car praying because I hadn't actually done so that morning."
So, a prayer for the upcoming church service slipped through my lips, and then a few sentences into the prayer these unexpected words came out of my mouth,
"Why are you going to church?
The Lord was asking me this question. Then with conviction, I questioned my own self:
"Yeah, why am I going to church?" What are my motives?
"Am I going to church to serve the Lord? Or serve myself?"
"What will I do with the grace received from the message this morning?
"Will I use that grace to fulfill my own will and my own desires?
Or God's will and desires for my life?
It was a thunderstruck moment for me, and all of a sudden, I felt so incomplete, so unprepared for service, so empty, and not ready to the give the Lord praise and worship at all.
My mind was a jumble of thoughts, ideas, and projects from browsing social media posts all morning, when I should've been filling my spirit with the daily bread from heaven.
Yes, my physical body was prepared, showered and looking pretty good in my new dress, but my spirit was far from being cleansed and ready to minister in any way as a pastor's wife -- Let alone, give honorable, consecrated worship to the Lord.
In one sense, I had been caught without oil in my lamp like in the parable of the 10 virgins, and in another sense, I had not emptied myself of the worries and cares of this life so anointing oil could be poured in.
My heart was filled with all the earthly things I had been thinking about and looking at all morning.
Realizing I had missed the whole purpose of attending church service that morning, was further confirmed in worship service when my husband prophesied a warning about guarding our hearts against the pursuit of earthly things and not letting the "things of the world" choke out our time with the Lord.
Further emphasis was placed on this truth during the morning message, in which, the speaker spoke about the treasure that awaits those who seek the Lord.
One of the speaker's remarks made a lasting impression on me:
"The greatest treasure, is when the Lord reveals himself to us as we seek him."
So, that is what happened to me. I missed out on "The Greatest Treasure" because I was undisciplined in my thoughts and behavior and let my earthly pursuits of social media posts, projects, and ideas get the better of me. Ouch.
There are many benefits in serving the Lord, and one of them is the blessing of his presence in the secret place. I have experienced this blessing many times and it is most precious to me. Did I forgo this blessing? Yes, I certainly did. Do I feel horrible about it? Yes I do.
I hadn't put enough importance on what was really important --being still in God's presence.
I don't know about you, but I needed this wake up call to get me back on track!
Thank you Lord, for questioning my motives in the car that morning!
PRAYER
Oh Lord,
How could we ever doubt your love for us? Your word says you chasten those you love, and you gave me a loving rebuke.
I missed opportunities to read your word and meet with you before church, and I feel horrible about it. Were you waiting for me?
Oh Lord! Please see my aching heart! Do not keep yourself from me for long! I need you desperately. Your law and your love guides me every day, and it is a comfort to my soul.
I am so sorry I missed precious moments with you! See your humble daughter today, and visit me with your presence. Heal my hurting heart and renew a right spirit within me.
You are my refuge and my God, and my hope is in you. May I remember to walk in wisdom, and seek you first before doing anything extra, and may you help me protect my time so I can use it more wisely.
Give me grace to walk uprightly before you and bring honor to your name. Amen.
Many blessings ~
© My Sun & Shade Ministries
I always wonder why I am flustered and feeling down. I didn‘t give the Lord my attention in reading His Word and being in His presence first thing in the morning. Thank you Angie. TODAY, I needed this kick in the butt 😆🤍