Still Working

09 Jun 2010 1 Comment

by Cindy Beecher in Discipline, God, God's Purpose for Me

My life is a work in progress. Things I had planned to have done by December of last year have still not happened. But, God is at work in my heart and life.

I don’t think He is changing what He has called me to do. In fact I believe He is giving me time to grieve and heal so I can be more prepared for what He is calling me to do. I did not expect the process to take as long as it has, yet God is giving me a peace that passes understanding in the process.

Part of what God has been speaking to me about on  a regular basis is Spiritual Practices. These are sometimes called Spiritual Disciplines. I choose to call them Spiritual Practices because the word discipline reminds me of harsh punishment.

Speaking in terms of Spiritual Practices reminds me that the more I practice a particular way of growing Spiritually the more I will grow Spiritually. It’s like learning to ride a bicycle. Starting out is hard, but the freedom that comes from riding solo with the wind whipping through your hair is fabulous.

A couple of years ago my husband and I began the practice of Silence, Solitude and Sabbatical all in one week. We now intentionally plan one week each year to get away and spend time with God in prayer, reading His Word and meditating on His Word. We are together, but we spend most of our time individually except for meals and planned fun together time.

Another practice that I am currently working with God on is that of Sabbath. I started out a few years ago (in fact after our first week of Silence, Solitude and Sabbatical) spending Wednesdays with God. I have to say that has been the most peace filling practice I have been allowed to participate in to this point. Wednesdays with God have changed a bit and now I am spending Thursdays with God. I cannot even express in words just how powerful these times with God have been and continue to be in my life.

I have been using a book by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun called: Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Practices that Transform Us to learn more about different Spiritual Practices that I had not yet considered.

The ones that God is speaking to me about currently are: The Rule for Life, Self-Care and Detachment. Adele in her book defines those three as follows:
“Rule For Life
A rule for life offers unique and regular rhythms that free and open each person to the will and presence of Christ, The spiritual practices of a rule provide a way to partner with the Holy Spirit for personal transformation.”
“Self-Care
Self-Care honors God through nurturing and protecting the body, mind and spirit with their limits and desires.”
“Detachment
Detachment means replacing the attachment to (1) idolatrous relationships and (2) self-serving goals and agendas for success, money, power, ego, productivity and image with wholehearted attachment to and trust in God alone.”

The more I practice these things the more they seem to meld together into one practice. The more time I spend in Solitude and Silence with God, the more days I spend focusing on Him in Sabbath, the more I become aware of the need for a rule of life, self-care and detachment.

How about you? What is God calling you to in your relationship with Him?

Father, my prayer is that I will grow deeper in my relationship with you as I continue to develop  Spiritual Practices in my life. I want to be seen like Peter and John when it was said of them in Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” NIV
My ongoing and continued desire still is written in my life plan and is the prayer of my heart:

• I am longing to live a life controlled by His Spirit and compelled by His love, one ordinary gal living in constant fellowship with THE extraordinary God. I am longing for this so others,  perceiving that I am an unschooled ordinary gal, will marvel at the knowledge that I have been with Jesus and that they want Him too.
  Amen.

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