This new game is called Stop! and it works kinda like Scattegories. Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE word games so this one had an instant draw. So the object of the game is to find words that fit into 5 categories that begin with a particular letter and to do it all with only moments on the clock. Yesterday, I found myself spending valuable time, time that I should've been doing something productive, playing this stupid game!
I made up words...knowing full well that the words I made didn't fit the category, but hoping against all hope that I could outsmart that blasted game! In the midst of my frustration with this game, God spoke to me. I know, that's crazy, but that's the way He gets my "ADD" attention. Yesterday, He just said, "Stop!"...using a game by the same name.
He showed me how much I depend on my own wisdom and experience for words...and when I do that creates a struggle that brings unwarranted stress into my life. Whether I am playing a game or trying to counsel a friend, He reminded me that I was searching for words, when searching for the Word would be a much better use of my time. You see, it is very easy for me to get lost in a game...but it had been a while since I got lost in the Word.
I was trying to be a wordsmith, when what I needed was the Word. John 1:1, tells us that, "in the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God." He's been there all along.
Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." How many times do I struggle to find my way...to make sense of this crazy world we live in...without going to the Word for direction?
The odd thing is that I KNOW how much life comes from being in the Word. You have witnessed how God has spoken to me in my darkest hours through His life-giving Word. Why in the world would I ever neglect to read His Word? And I've even been studying for my ordination to become a minister! What I realized, was that even though I was reading to study for my exam, I had become too busy to actually let the Word minister to me. I was reading it, but I didn't have time to allow the Lord to speak to me. I got a mental picture of Him watching me read His Word and then saying, "Stop! I want this to sink in...you need this more than you know!"
I realized that when I write, I usually write with the hope that someone will stop, and read it, and find meaning in it. I believe that desire came straight from God. I am created in His image, so I believe that desire to have my words not only read, but to have them bring hope to those who read, comes from the one I am created to be like...The Word himself. The One who can speak life-giving words into whatever category of life we find ourselves in, because He is the Word!
Lord, help me STOP everything that would hinder me from Your Word, today!
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