"not only for quiet time..."

I am beginning to realize that holding our plans loosely- whether it is plans for our day or plans for our lives- is a lesson God will have to teach me again and again. I was just saying to my mom this morning that I think it is funny how God lovingly lets us live with this illusion that we are in control so much more than we are! Really, we don't sustain anything in our lives- not our breathing or our ability to move, even those are God-given gifts every day. So I wonder why it is so difficult for me to stop peering anxiously into the day- or months or years- ahead and try to figure everything out? Sarah is so right, all that planning does tie me up in knots, and when things come out of nowhere and change these plans I find the mess a whole lot harder to untangle than it would have been if I had let God have control the whole time.

"Attentiveness to Me is not only for your quiet time, but for all your time..." I hope this becomes THE defining characteristic of my life.. attentiveness to the Lord. I don't want to keep compartmentalizing my life into "quiet time" and "every other time" because I know I am missing so much by leaving out my Wonderful Counselor. Plans will always change and will always be thrown off, but if we keep our attentiveness on Jesus I don't think we will feel so tangled in knots, but maybe more like we are being refined by fire. And while seasons or moments of unpredictability are never easy, resting in who holds on to us through those times is the difference between feeling lost in confusion and knowing confidently we are growing into who God wants us to be- for His purposes and His glory.

And when everything in us wants to pick up the pen, my prayer is that we could rely on the Author who already wrote the ending.