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Quiet Time
by Kasia Kedzia
“She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.” Prov5:6 NIV
She knows it not… gulp…I wonder how long I have walked in the wrong direction and knew it not?
Lisa Bevere, once wrote, “We will find ourselves on pathways of deception any time we accept a lie as truth. We find ourselves wandering the ways of darkness whenever we refuse the counsel of God’s timeless wisdom and spurn it as irrelevant to our day or not applicable to our unique situation. It is foolish to think every path brings you to life, because surely if there is a way of life, then there is a way of death.”
I have spurned God’s wisdom quite a bit this past week. I was not as openly arrogant as to think the scriptures were irrelevant to my week, but my lack of consistency in reading and studying out His word daily had done just that. When I read Bevere’s words I was reminded that when I don’t make the effort to seek God’s counsel daily I am in fact spurning His wisdom as irrelevant and not applicable.
I recently decided to tackle quite a difficult part of my sinful nature, a very specific part of my pride- which exhibits itself as criticism and a lack of submission to God and others. It was so scary to think about addressing this new level of trust in God that I didn’t even know where to start— so I didn’t. In fact, since looking up the first set of passages I have been avoiding delving into the study and have instead read “other” scriptures or simply re-read the one I parked on. Now don’t get me wrong I definitely agree that all scripture is God breathed and useful for training us in righteousness, but there are some scriptures that definitely cut more than others. There are some topical studies that are harder to start than others; they will require the utmost humility.
“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining every brighter till the full light of day.” Prov4:18 (NIV)
The Message version of Prov4:18 reads; “The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine. But the road of wrongdoing gets darker and darker.”
Righteous paths lead to greater places of illumination. If I want to overcome this part of my character and develop conviction in this area of my life, I must commit to seeking God’s word daily so that I may keep on shining. It’s a choice, and it takes humility, but if I do not make that choice I face the road of darkness, the crooked path, maybe not today or tomorrow, but with time.
The scary thing is that we can all veer slowly off the right path and not even know it! I once shared with a friend that I had had a hard week because I had not really spent time in God’s word, she replied, “oh you’re one of those.” This comment caught me off guard as I thought—“we are ALL one of those!” There is not one of us who are seeking God (before or after we have become Christians) that does not need “the counsel of God’s timeless wisdom” daily. Any time we decide that we can go a day without it we are spurning it as irrelevant to our day or not applicable to our unique situation. When we give no thought to the way of life; our paths become crooked, and we know it not. There are times to pray to God and seek advice and there are times to listen—my time to listen to Him on this subject has come.
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Since those first days, I have made it out of the Projects, finished my Masters degree in International Development, and moved to DC to work in my field. As a young single Christian woman my struggles today are a little different than they were when I first came to know God, but who am I kidding, not much. It's the every day battle for my heart to be pure before God, to strive to please him, and help others to seek and know Him.
Over my years of a faithful walk with God I have received much grace and compassion and have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams. Through out it all one thing has stayed consistent: God's word. Through His word I have been inspired and it has kept me faithful even when faith seemed like a foreign concept and God seemed deaf to my prayers. I started emailing my Quiet Times which helped me stay accountable as I shared my struggles and fought for understanding. Some wrote back and said they too were inspired and could relate. I hope some of my times can help inspire others who are seeking and fighting just like I am, to get to heaven and take as many as possible with me along the way.
Like what your read? Check out my blog: http://stronggirlforlife.wordpress.com/
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