BY SHILA ANDERSON
Let me set the scene. I’m sitting on my couch, with the latest Hallmark Movie playing on the television while, at the same time, I’m playing a game on my phone. All is going well until I look up and realize that I have no idea what is going on in the movie. Mind you, this is Hallmark. I can probably guess that the girl dumps her current, very successful, work-obsessed boyfriend so she can date her high school sweetheart, who is now a farmer or something along those lines. But I didn’t want to guess, I wanted to actually know what was going on. And I missed it.
Anyone ever try to do more than one thing at once? Of course, you have! You are a woman, and women are the queens of multi-tasking. Most of the time we are pretty good at it too. However, did you ever notice that when you do more than one thing at a time, nothing comes out exactly right?
Here’s another example. My husband is a quality time person. When he’s doing something, he likes it when the family is there with him, even if it’s just our presence. Like when he was painting the ceiling in our kitchen, he wanted me to hang out and talk to him while he painted. Or when we are watching a show that he may love more than I do, he wants me to give it my full attention and not sit there scrolling on my phone.
You are smart. I bet you are seeing the tie in to all this. We don’t give our best self when we aren’t fully present. The people we are with want us to be fully present with them. When we are with people, we want them to be fully present with us. And… wait for it… when we spend time with God, He too wants us to be fully present with Him.
Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. – Psalm 21:6
Is your prayer time a time of complete and total surrender to God, where He is the only thing that is on your mind? Or are you multi-tasking? If you are wondering why you aren’t feeling as close to God as you used to, it’s important to check yourself. What can you do to make yourself fully present with God?
For me, worship music always helps me get my mind on God and off of everything else. One song I’m quite fond of right now is “Nothing Else” by Cody Carnes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLBvCTV23qw
Ladies, I hope you take the time to get fully present with God this Christmas season and coming new year. And honestly, get fully present with the people in your life that you care about too – your parents, your spouse, your kids, your friends. For me, nothing shows me more how important I am to someone when I’m with them than when they are not distracted, their phone is put away, the tv is off, and we are just fully present with each other.