Quality Time State of Mind

Have you ever heard the saying "trash in trash out"? It's something my parents would say to my brother and I a lot growing up, but it wasn't until my teenage years that it really started to make sense. You see, the more things we are exposed to, the more we are forced to take in, and those things that we take in can drastically shape who we are as people. If you put good things into your mind, then good things will come out. The same can be said for the inverse.

Now let's go back to last week: I talked about the dangers of getting caught up in the "more-ness" of life, and this is a continuation of it. When we get caught up in the volume of life, things get busy, and when things get busy, we get careless. Carelessness leaves room for trash to creep into our lives because we live in a broken world and the Devil is crafty; when we are busy we don't pay attention to the music we are listening to, it's just background noise. When we are busy we don't pay attention to the show we are bingeing, we just know that it's a distraction from the mundane events of life. When we are busy we don't see how much junk food we are eating, we only see that we don't have time for anything else. Etc. etc. etc.

Do any of these excuses sound familiar? I've used each of them at least half a dozen times over, and will probably continue to do so, because sometimes life is just busy. Which requires us to ask the question: how do we combat this? And why is it important?

The Bible calls us to focus on things that are lovely, a phrase which instantly conjures images in our mind of flowery and pretty, which isn't necessarily true (Philippians 4:8). The word "lovely" actually means something that evokes joy and happiness. So, while sometimes this can be something flowery or pretty or inherently girly, God is ultimately calling us to focus on things that give life and create joy, not things that tear us down and separate us from Him! And the only way that we can be adamantly in pursuit of these lovely things that God offers us, is through quality time with Him.

For the duration of Spring Break, I have not really left my house. I have spent time with my mom, we have watched movies, and I have baked and cleaned, and I am beyond thrilled to have had that quality time with her. Why? Because it helped us to connect, to grow our relationship deeper, and for me to catch my breath and feel refreshed.

Think about water: it is refreshing, it is calming, it is powerful, healing, reviving, and life giving. And here's the best things about water: Jesus is the living embodiment of it (John 4:10). We go to the beach to be refreshed physically, and we go to God to be refreshed spiritually, but that is all dependent on whether or not we are spending quality time with Him. It depends on whether or not we are making that quality time a priority in our hearts, and pursuing that as our state of mind, instead of the busyness that the rat race of life offers us.

This is something that is particularly important to me because it's something I've struggled with for most of my life. I didn't see the point of a quiet time with the Lord until the last two years, because I thought it was "good enough" to go to church on Sundays and pray over meals. I loved the Lord with all my heart, but I wasn't making that sweet alone time with Him a priority because I was busy and had other things to do. "I would get to it when I had the time", and would still have the audacity to spend hours of my time scrolling through social media, reading books that in no way glorified the Lord, and listening to music that did nothing to focus my mind on things that were remotely lovely. Heck, I even do that sometimes now. I may have a quiet time with the Lord daily, but then allow my mind to be consumed with thoughts that are not edifying throughout the rest of the day.

So, let me tell you the hard truth: we make time for the things that matter. I want you to read that again: we make time for the things that matter. The people, the priorities, the pursuits and passions of our souls are there because they matter to us, and it's time that we start asking ourselves what those things are, and if they are edifying us in the eyes of the Lord. Are you pursuing a state of mind aimed at quality time with the Lord and the people in your life that matters, or are you letting the things of this world take that place?

Spring Break is a really great time to refocus yourself and your priorities to finish the year well, but so is summer, and so was quarantine, and so is every other chance we get to breathe in this mess we call a world. Life is always going to present you with chances to catch your breath and refocus yourself, the thing about those seasons though, that makes them so bitterly sweet, is realising that they end. Eventually, the bans lift, and the breaks end, and school starts, and you're right back where you were six months ago like nothing happened in the first place.

Don't do it. Don't succumb to the Devil's scheme to steal, kill, and destroy your peace of mind. Don't let him take away your air. Don't let him disrupt your quality time, because it matters.

Because it matters, and you matter, and your relationship with the Lord matters to you, and Him, and me, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this right now. God desires so desperately to have a relationship with you, if only you will take the time to get to know Him in return.

Catch your breath.

-Emma

"Be fearless in pursuit of what sets your soul on fire."