If I was to ask you how often you truly spent time with God, alone, what would you reply? If I was then to ask you, do you relish those times or are they more of a burden, what would you reply? On a basic level I think everyone of us has days or weeks when getting ‘time-out’ to be in God’s presence is tough and sometimes it takes more discipline than revelation. Being part of an accountability group has been an eye-opener- I am not alone in this area of our faith. But it is something that we all want to perfect and dwell in daily.
One of the books I have read recently has really developed and inspired how I enjoy and look at spending my quiet times each day. ‘Sacred Pathways: Discover your Soul’s Path to God’ by Gary Thomas, is a book which is practical, easy and an enjoyable read that will make you discover how you tick when it comes to spending quiet time alone with God. The book ventures through nine sacred pathways which lead us to thrive on the simple things in life and turn them into praise whilst also finding our unique Gethsemane’s – places where we can escape to in our busy everyday lives.
Would you call yourself a Traditionalist in your style of worship, in that everything needs to remain structuralised, or would you think yourself as more of a Naturalist in that nothing brings you more pleasure, or enthuses you to worship, than being in God’s ever-changing masterpiece? Well, who says you can’t be a bit of both? Reading this book will enlighten you as to how spending time-out with God need never be a burden or a discipline again. It will open your eyes to those around you, realising why we are all different and that there is beauty in the way others worship too.
Psalm 139 is a famous passage and one of my all time favourites, which reminds us of how unique we are in God’s sight and how there is no place we can flee from His presence. Gary Thomas has mastered nine profound ways in which we can thoroughly embrace time alone with God and rejoice in our being His children without our ritualistic tendencies.
Dare to be different. Dare to care. Dare to be a disciple of Christ.