Day 20 – The Exchange: 21 Days of Spiritual Swaps

Yesterday, I was in a funk.

I wasn’t happy with the blog post I wrote. I was nervous to talk about healing.

But – more importantly – I wasn’t 100% sure that healing was what God wanted me to talk about. In other words: I wasn’t waiting on revelation from Him.

I was rushing through my time with God, because I wanted to quickly write, publish and be done with it for the day!

Today, I came to God in another rush.

By 9.30am I had been invited out by 4 different people! Plus I have commitments to deliver meals and run a few errands.

As a stay-at-home mum (and borderline extrovert) I have been desperate to see people lately!

Needless to say – I wanted to see all 4 people.

Yet, I knew it was impossible to do so much in one day, especially when my daughter thrives on a tight nap schedule!

I “gave” my dilemma to God… well, really I wrote it down in a journal and told Him to fix it!

The stress in my heart didn’t go away, because I hadn’t actually taken time to come to God properly. I hadn’t properly exchanged my mess for His goodness.

If I am honest, I am often guilty of coming to God, dumping stuff on Him… but not actually encountering him.

I think that’s why it tells us to wait so much in the bible.

Psalm 27 reads:

Here’s what I’ve learned through it all:
Don’t give up; don’t be impatient;
be entwined as one with the Lord.^[f]
Be brave and courageous, and never lose hope.
Yes, keep on waiting—for he will never disappoint you!

Psalm 27: 14, TPT.

I love how it says: “don’t be impatient.” I know for a fact that when I come to God feeling rushed or impatient, I have a choice to make – will I slow down and wait for His response, or will I rush through a bible study half-heartedly?

The ESV version puts it this way:

Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27: 14, ESV.

“Let your heart take courage” is a brilliant reminder for me! I can either come to God with a hard heart, or I can come to Him with a heart that is ready to receive.

What I am trying to say is: I can pretend that I have gone to God, or I can actually go to God. I can stop whatever I am dong and listen to God, who is always speaking.

It is 100% my choice.

So today, I am swapping pretending for presence.

I will be present to God. I will let Him guide me. I will give Him my full attention. I will be patient and I will wait on Him.

I will not pretend to come to Him. I will not keep my heart hard, in order to get on with my day. I will let Him in, no matter what it costs.

Today, I challenge you to throw all distraction aside and remain patient in the presence of God.

It doesn’t matter if you have five minutes to spare or five hours! What matters is whether you pretend to come to God or whether you actually let Him into your heart.

Don’t rush on to the next thing, without giving Him the attention He deserves.

I can guarantee you; closing your eye, shutting out every other distraction and focusing on God will improve your day. Even if you are just present for one minute.

Try it; swap pretending to connect with God for actual, meaningful connection with Him today.

Action Points:

• Stop what you are doing, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and read Psalm 27 aloud.
• Wait, pause and just sit in His presence this morning. Maybe you need to repeat a verse from psalm 27 over and over again to keep your attention fixed on God.
• Ask God to encounter you in a fresh way today.