I love that January is a time of reflection. Not that I am big on setting resolutions. I know myself too well. However, I do like the hope of adjusting my focus. I want to continue to grow in my walk with Jesus, and to continue to purposefully be refined by my role as a wife and mom. The two roles where I am the most comfortable and the most volatile because of that comfort.
I have felt the two words "available" and "willing" coming up in my quiet times with God. "Willing" won out since "available" makes me feel like I am marketing myself as such. But both express my deep desire to put aside my own agenda in the day-to-day decisions.
I am going through a devotional and this verse popped out at me and inspired my 2014 focus:
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." (Matthew 7:24)
In the devotional part it goes on to say, "We are a people desperate for God's Word. More than anything, God's people need to know His Word and be willing to give Him the freedom to adjust our lives to its precepts." (Beth Moore, emphasis mine.)
All too often I hear God's words, can communicate a philosophical response to them, but actually putting them into practice? So many reasons all too easily rule out the discipline of practice.
My being willing is something I choose to give to God. It is a gift to my husband. To my children.
When I think of my unwillingness, I think of wanting to finish a task instead of being willing to let myself be interrupted by my kids asking "mommy, can I show you something?". I think of being too tired or stressed or irritated to answer the phone, or having a bad attitude and a rushed spirit when I do answer, when my husband calls in the middle of the day.
Jesus, help me to be willing to have You adjust the focus of my daily agenda.
