Making time for the Cleft

I was blessed when I began searching for the cleft.  I was a young married woman, working, and without children.  I had time in the morning before I left for work, not long, but enough to establish a habit of making time for God.

I was born again in September 1978, and with hunger for God and good teaching, I began to seek God each morning after my then husband left for work.

I cannot say enough about a dedicated time, irrevocably set aside for God in the early part of the day.  In making that commitment, it is as if the Christian is saying to Him, “You are first with me; You are my source, my refuge, my strength.  You begin my life each day.”  Even if you have responsibilities to others, they are more easily met if He is first.

I learned this from example.  The woman who had the role of spiritual mother to me had 6 children and a very active life.  In her responsibilities, she had established a morning pattern that worked.  She fed her family breakfast, saw them off to work/school, loaded the dishwasher, made her bed, and sat down with God.  Even when she was a guest in someone else’s home, she sat down and spent time in her Bible, in worship, and in prayer each morning.  If anyone cared to join her, they were welcome, but most days, she was in the cleft alone with her Lord.

Another friend had her prayer time with toddlers at her feet.  She found dedicating that time even more important.  She kept a pad and pen next to her to write down good ideas or reminders of tasks that came but were intrusive to her goal of spending time with God.

The time I spend with God has changed in terms of place in my day over the years.  Its content has also varied with the season of my learning and need.  Early in my Christian life, it was reading my Bible and praying from a list, but separate from Bible study.  Later, much of it was worship and listening, learning to recognize His voice.

Still later, it was the work of writing out what I have learned, sometimes in small pieces.  Other times have been extended and produced much more.

Over the years, my time has expanded at times to include the joy of reading special books that pertained especially to my life or to watching or listening to a teacher whose life parallels mine and from whom I learn.  It often includes worshipping in my vehicle either in my own songs or with recorded music and stopping in my mind to thank Him for the blessings I see along the way.  Sometimes, it is a kind word, sometimes a lovely scene of flowers or a garden, sometimes thanks that I know He will answer a prayer.  But it is always a time I choose to give, to sacrifice with joy that we, God the Three in One and I, might become closer and closer.

“The Cleft” Copyright 2001