I love the opening line of chapter 3 – “A flourishing life is possible.” We may find it quite meaningful to take this phrase with us into a time of solitude, and interact with God on whether or not we actually believe it is true. A flourishing life is possible. I’m not sure where you stand with this, but there are many times in my journey where a flourishing life feels out of reach. There are so many pressures and challenges to navigate. The hope of this book – and the essence of these four chapters – is that we can become people who experience God’s joy (we flourish) no matter what circumstances we are facing. Ortberg says that our main job is to stay connected to God. Such simple counsel. And yet, if we are not carving out time to be with God and interact with Him, we will not be able to stay connected. Knowing we should be spending time with God is not the same as actually doing it.
We all have our preferred paths for pursuing God. Some of us like solitude. Some of us hate it. Some of us like to open the Bible. Some of us haven’t a clue what to do with an open Bible. It’s important as we grapple with this book, to remember that we will not always like some of the spiritual exercises that move us toward maturity in Christ. There is a counter-intuitive component of genuine spiritual formation. That means, there are times when I have to surrender what I want to do or what I like to do, and embrace what I’m uncomfortable or bored or uninspired doing. As Ortberg asks, “who is in charge?” I know this cuts against the grain of our cherished independence, but spiritual formation will not always lead us into our favorite exercises and practices. We need time in solitude whether we like it or not. We need time in prayer whether we like it or not. We time mulling over the inspired Word of God whether we think so or not. We need spiritual friendships whether we think we have time for them or not.
Ortberg uses some weird phrases. ”You-ier?” I don’t think I’ll ever say that again. ”Try softer?” I guess its kind of cute … or not. Anyway, it’s good advice especially for the performance addicts who find their identity in accomplishment. Spiritual formation does not happen unless we intend for it to happen. But the language of “hard work,” “trying,” and ”doing our best” is at cross purposes with Spirit orchestrated formation. ”Flow,” as Ortberg puts it, is a good picture. We step into the flow of what the Spirit is doing in our lives and we let Him carry us along. We do our part but we don’t force results. It’s not necessary to extract a “word” from God every time we open the Bible. We don’t have to leave time in solitude with some deep and profound sense that we have encountered God. We are rarely going to see fireworks in our Christian experience. Our confidence is that the Spirit is working, over the long haul, so that “Christ is formed in us.” (Gal. 4:19)
So here is my question – and it’s personal and annoying and … worth considering. What keeps us from carving out 30 minutes to an hour everyday to be alone with God? Any thoughts?
wrtoe this in wrong spot as i was impatient
I really enjoyed the next chapters 3-6. I cant wait any long so I am writing on the wrong section. Ihate journaling. I always end up trying buying a nice journal, and end upmakeing lists of things I need to do or my schedule for the week. Not one recorded thought. the spiritual formation techniques can be defeating.
I am not good at memorizing scripture, i dont know why, I try and I forget. My most spiritual time is when i walk, or run the dog on the trails. I have tried to findpartners and realized after reading these chapters that I had one. (not the dog). ON all my walks and running God is with me, reflecting, comforthing, teaching. It has renewed my commitment to keep this up, i had pushed it away to spend time with the kids.
I appreciated honoring the modes i have for connecting with God. i have been too,hard on myself when i feel like i am not journaling,
Have no idea what thatgo softer statement was all about., found the chapter meaningless. hope you can help.
i have no good reason for not carving out time. the day and its chores get away from me. I do know that when I walk, I pray and feel connected with God
Rose – I relate to your experience walking. I walked to football practice today and enjoyed the beauty of the day – and somehow – God met me in that – and I experienced him. I believe God desires us. When we carve our space for Him, He meets us and good things happen. May He richly bless your walks!
I get in the way of carving out time with God. I am generally a lazy person….who looks for the easy way out or shortest path. But I don’t have a good excuse for not spending more time with God. I do have “times” with God most everyday. I am a popcorn prayer…but I do find that I pray most of the time in the Bath tub…is that weird? I love a hot bath and love doing my prayer time then….maybe I am all wet with this timing….my house is mostly quiet all the time, so I could pray anytime. I really enjoy Pastor Ortberg’s little stories of his life. Having met him at an Oak Hills Retreat a few years ago, I can picture him talking. Using a river to illustrate God flowing through us is so good. He makes it easy to understand God and His purpose for us.
The best part about my job as an elementary school custodian, is that I have ample opportunity to commune with God. Especially in the morning before staff and kids start arriving. I try to take advantage of it to the best of my abilities. The biggest struggle is staying focused on God, and learning to recognize the voice of His spirit in me. My mind is so adept at twisting my thoughts back toward myself, I have to constantly check myself. I find listening to worship music, sermons, or books (like the one we’re reading) very useful to keep myself focused.
I love the way Ortberg boils down our job description as believers to simply staying connected to God. It’s so easy to get caught up in over-thinking and trying harder to grow spiritually. Just learn to hang with God. That sounds doable and inviting.
I guess the question for me isn’t so much was is keeping me from spending time with God each day but more like what could keep me from NOT doing it….and the answer these days is “nothing”. Over the course of the past year, through a lot of discipline on my part and a lot of help from the Holy Spirit I’ve manage to make time for God, and in fact, I couldn’t imagine a day without it. I’m by no means perfect in this area and I’m sure still have a long way to go but little steps encourage me. From spending the first 15-20 minutes with God while I’m still in bed in the morning, to the specific prayer I say before getting out of the shower, to talking with God on my way to work, to the lunch time walk I take around the office buildings to to just listen to God, to the long walk I take after work that is mostly worship time, to Bible/book reading and some final prayer time right before bed. This didn’t come easy,and like I said, a year ago it was a totally different story.
Awesome Rodney! Very encouraging.
“What keeps me (us) from carving out 30 minutes to an hour everyday to be alone with God?”
Not taking my thoughts captive. At 5 a.m. when it’s so quite my mind says it’s to early. The bed is too comfortable. The air to cold. At 8 a.m. my minds starts running to the tasks of the day. By noon I’m in the middle of whatever and don’t want to interrupt the momentum. I recently finished a book that recommends 30 minutes twice a day. “Before supper.” So at 4:30 pm I start thinking about the cooking. I still haven’t successfully fit in this afternoon time.
I’m finally over the expecting. That used to stop me. I expected the “word” or an experience of Him. When I actually do finally settle into the quiet I’m better at letting the nothing happen. And generally that’s is exactly what happens. But I will notice during the day a sense of connectedness at unexpected times if I have sat in silence that morning.