Time-Stealer

I can't tell you how many times I've sat in my room (office, music studio, writer's den, meditation center, online conference facility, etc.) with a cuppa in the early morning, preparing to connect with a generous Father, then to find myself grabbing my phone to scroll through the emails, messages, and texts.

Only later, to discover that nothing of urgent importance couldn't have waited. Now "IT" settles in. That sense or feeling of remorse. Possibly even guilt for allowing myself to be pulled away. A search began in my soul for the cause of this action, of latching on to the phone and scrolling through social media or responding to emails.

Here are six reasons I came up with to explain this course of action;

• People are important. Therefore I need to respond

• I'm waking up, and I want to give my whole self to God

• I'm always more alert mid-morning

• God and I have an ongoing conversation - he understands

• he's not angry with me for answering emails and text messages

• Nothing vital in my life was happening - my time with God could wait!

That last one struck a chord...nerve...with me, considering there is a shift happening in my life this year. There is a change occurring in me that has been in transition since the beginning of COVID. Let's say the Spring of 2020.

Three years is a reasonable amount of time for a transition. I have found that most transitions require two to five years. This means I'm on track. I feel sorry for those closest to me who have had to 'put-up' with all my trial-and-error moments. I like trying things out, which often feels like jumping from one tree to the next without looking at where I'm going. I see these as trying things out without having to include everyone in the process - except those closest to me.

When you're on the final edge of a transition, a fresh grace or revelation of hope begins to surface. Knowing that you might be stepping into a season of building, and then the time-stealer enters the picture. Time-stealer draws us away from the more profound truth, pushing us toward comfort and relaxation. Time-stealer knows if our focus can be shifted from the deeper truth of the fresh revelation of our future, that future can then be delayed. Delay is a powerful weapon against fresh revelation.

So, I put down my phone, picked up my Remarkable2, and began writing. Tim-stealer can try another day, but at this moment, time is on my side!