I Don't Have Time + Tough Pills to Swallow.

I was at a young adults retreat with my church this weekend, and our focus was on the spiritual gifts in Romans 12, and what it looks like to cultivate those gifts, and how we can actively cultivate them.

My view this past weekend... BEAUTY, right?

During one of the sessions, our speaker was talking about some of the things we say in attempts to avoid cultivating our spiritual gifts. The thing that he said that had me convicted on multiple levels was


"I don't have time."


I'm not sure I say that a lot, but I definitely think it...

I don't have time to read my Bible.

I don't have time to process my emotions.

I don't have time to talk to someone about _______.

I don't have time to take a break and rest.

I don't have time to [fill-in-the-blank-with-some-important-thing-that-should-be-done-but-keeps-getting-put-off].

Sometimes it's true that you can't find time to get some things done. But it's also true that you need to make time if something is of enough importance to you.

The two biggest ones for me from my list above would be "I don't have time to read the Bible", and "I don't have time to talk to someone about _______".

Ya see, the convicting thing about saying that you don't have time to read the Bible or spend time with God is that, as a Christian, shouldn't that really be the thing that is of utmost importance to me? Like, at all times? Ouch. That one was a tough pill to swallow over the weekend. Which is probably why I'm still thinking about it now.

I had some great midnight chats over the weekend with the lovely young lady that I was sharing a room with. And as we laid in our sleeping bags on one of the nights, I remembered telling her that on the days when I wake up and actually prioritize spending time with God, I'm more easily able to see His goodness and mercies throughout the day. So one would think that I'd get it into my head that I need to start my day with God all the time, because my days always seem so much more bearable when I wake up and start them with Him. 

And the reason I was so convicted about the whole "I don't have time to talk to someone about _______" was because of what our speaker said after he made that point. He talked about how there are certain things that we never want to talk about with someone "because then it means that you'll actually have to deal with your problems."

Boom.

Another hard pill to swallow.

Dealing with your problems is rarely ever a walk in the park. I mean, if it is a walk in the park for you, then wow you're lucky pls teach me your ways. But anyway, dealing with your problems is so important, and at the same time it's something that can often get swept under the rug, at least if you're anything like I am when it comes to dealing with things wherein the good ol' emotions are involved.

The past couple of weeks I've been realizing a lot about how lonely and isolating it can be when you keep your problems to yourself and lead everyone to believe that you actually don't have any problems.

Sooo learn from my mistakes, take a page from my book, or whatever you want to say, and don't do that. Don't keep your problems - your emotions - to yourself. I know it's easier said than done, but trust me; you'll feel so much better if you talk to people (that you really trust) about what's goin' on inside your mind. That can seem like a cliché thing that people say, but I've realized that it's 100% true!

Make time for the important things. And keep in mind that it's okay to be messy. Sometimes it's really important to be a mess. You can learn a whole lot from it.