Fall Into His Stride

"Now devote your heart and soul to seek the Lord your God."

I Chronicles 22:19

I had to laugh when I came back into my office a few minutes ago. The light on my printer was blinking "Reload" at me from across the room. I chuckled at God's sense of humor because that's exactly what I needed to do!

This morning when the house was empty except for me and my two cats, I thought I'd had the whole day figured out. There was much to accomplish so I dove into the day all on my own with both feet planted firmly underneath me. From one task to the next my pace picked up speed and before I knew it, my "to do" list was half done. "This is great!" I thought. "I'm off to a great start. Now, what's next?"

As I settled into my office chair to make some phone calls, my eyes caught a glimpse of my prayer journal and Bible on the corner of my desk. "Oh yeah," I breathed and then justified, "But, God's not on my list, today. I've got so much more to do. I'm sure He won't mind if I just squeeze Him into my day here and there."

So, as I continued to ignore God's voice to focus in on with Him, I felt like I was wading through a pool of molasses! My network was slow and kept crashing. Skype kept dropping my calls. My laundry wouldn't dry. My crock pot dinner wasn't cooking evenly. The whole afternoon ended in a crescendo of frustration.

Finally, I stopped and opened Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest and read, "Getting into God's stride means nothing less than oneness with Him. " My heart was convicted. My mind wasn't talking to itself all day long...it was God calling me to spend time with him first and to leave the tasks for later. God further made His point when I opened His word to 1Chronicles 22:19, "Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God."

I'm not saying that "to do" list isn't important. Those tasks do have to get done. We may plant our feet firmly beneath us and start the race but we may find our pace is way off to have a successful run. When we hear God calling us to his side, we need to go and fall into His stride to finish well.