Guest Post: Do You Have a Moment?

I am a flight instructor at a test pilot school, and I regularly have someone stopping by to ask me, “Do you have a moment?”  I am asked this question on a daily basis.  Since I feel like “having a moment” is in my job description, I rarely turn anyone down for a moment of my time.  Of course depending on the question, a “moment” could be anything from 2-3mins up to a full hour.  Unless I have a higher priority event, such as a flight, I will drop everything I am doing and devote my full attention to the student.  I am only able to do this because I have determined that the student is very high on my priority list at work.  I can get all the grading, paperwork, and planning done around my top priority, the student.  

While I am sure my “boss” appreciates my devotion to my work, the real question I want to answer is: “Do I do the same thing when it comes to God?”  Do I make him the priority over everything else I have going on in my life, and have I even left enough space to hear and act when he leads me? 

I was asked to guest lead a Bible study several weeks ago, and the topic was left up to me.  I chose to speak about developing a conversational relationship with God.  We discussed how to recognize the beginning stages of hearing God, the nature of his voice, and how to best apply that to our life.  I discussed the need to be alert to what God is doing around you, and his leading in those circumstances.  This only works if we have incorporated time into our day to both hear him and act if he leads us. 

Captain Obvious would say, “If we do not have time to listen, then we will not hear what is said.”  As obvious as this may seem, I constantly fight the urge to sleep in or turn the TV on as opposed to spending time with God.  I wonder why I become so dense, only to realize that I have not spent time to hear the still small voice of God.  Even this morning as I spent time in Bible reading and prayer, I could feel the effects of time spent elsewhere.  My mind was scattered and a singleness of thought escaped me.  I could hardly quiet my mind long enough to hear God or distinguish his voice if he were to speak to me.  In those times, I push through the scattered thoughts, because I know that as I continue to spend time with God, my mind will narrow its focus on Christ alone.  I can feel the relationship restored and my mind made new.  It is not something I can do, but something that simply happens when I set aside time to be with Him.

Finally, I want to quickly discuss leaving time to act when Christ does lead.  I personally call it “leaving margin for God” based on a Bible study my small group did several years ago.  The premise of the study was that we all have been given a certain amount of time during the day to accomplish our work and play, and often we choose to completely fill it up with our own schedule.  We leave very little time as we rush from one thing to the next.  We become so busy that if we felt lead to do something, we would not have time to act if we wanted to.  I personally try to limit the amount of stuff I commit to so that I can follow God when he leads.  I want to be able to say yes to leading a Bible study when asked, or be able to stop my day to help someone in need.  I want to have enough room in my schedule to devote some extra time to someone when God leads me to.  I want to be able to not only recognize God’s leading, but to also be able to act on it.  I want to “have a moment” or “margin” in my life to act when I see God at work.  I am continuously working to improve this in my life, because I am prone to fill my time with both the important and meaningless things of life. 

My challenge to those that read this post (or write it) is to both devote time to hear God and leave time to act as he leads.  Incorporate margin in your life to have a moment for God’s leading.

Robert Hurst lives with his wife Hillary and three kids in Southern Maryland.