April. 4 - Even When I Lack…

Devotion

Despite my best intentions, I usually lack the spiritual discipline I desire. How many times have I recommitted myself to daily scripture reading or 10 minutes of focused meditation or starting each day with prayers of thanksgiving? Too many. I continue to neglect my God, but simultaneously devote time and energies to life’s trivialities and insignificants: surfing the web, watching reruns and reading entertainment gossip. They lure me away from where my inner being wants to rest. They congest and snarl my thoughts. They seduce me to forget who I seek, who I serve and who I sing for.

But God does not forget and continues to call me back. Though the voice I hear isn’t quite as loud and clear as Samuel heard in the Bible, it shows itself in varying forms: new buds on the trees, a sermon that captures truth, stories of people following their convictions, a clear night sky speckled by star formations. I must listen, observe and just be.

For even when I forget to spend 15 minutes reading Job or Philemon and lack the discipline of the saints, God is ever present and patient enough to wait until I notice.