Tend The Fire!

Man, I’ve recently been in a rut lately again. It happens every here and then, almost like the changing of the seasons. It’s a gradual slide that leads me here. I’m sure you’ve all been there at one time or another where you just let something go one day, which turns into a week, etc. It’s very easy to do, and most people I talk to have done that from time to time. It’s almost like a diet right? You take that one day to break the diet because one day won’t hurt, or you are at a special event and you can’t be the ONLY person there not eating all the great foods, right? Now I think we’re all on the same page.

Well, my rut hasn’t been food, it’s been a spiritual life kind of rut. As I said before, I don’t know how it happened, and it’s not really severe at this point even as I’ve learned to figure out early when it’s happening and how to fix it. You see, that spark I had is heading towards just a smoldering brush fire. I don’t always do the things that is necessary to keep the fire fully burning. I took a day off from my devotions, I spent all day watching sports one day, I focused entirely on the kids instead of God, something like that happened! So, one day probably I lost my focus, and that probably lead to two days, three, or four days in a row. Before long, a rut began!

So, how does one get out of a rut like this? Well, the first thing is realizing it. Secondly you have to go and find a way to build back the momentum. For me, the rut isn’t deep at this point, but it will get worse if I don’t get moving – something I’ve already started to do again. If you ask me, it starts with my prayer life. Some days you pray so you can feel all warm and cozy inside. You tell yourself if I pray to God about this then make my decision myself on the issue I at least can say I prayed about it – I know no one reading this has done that, right? That is like throwing a piece of newspaper on the fire you built. You get a couple seconds of flame, and then it goes right back to what it was before.

Ok, now that we realize there is a rut, it’s time to build back that fire. Time to focus our lives back on God. As I said yesterday as Elder of the Day, prayer is integral. God put Sunday as the start of the week to get your attention people! Prayer, Worship, Teaching all is there on HIS day to help prepare you for the week! He’s helping to fill us up with him so that the events of the week don’t take his His place in our lives. Start your week off right by spending time with him in church or outside of it, as long as you dedicate time to him. Then, start off each and every day in prayer. As I said yesterday, it doesn’t have to be on your knees at the bedside (although that is awesome if you can do that!). Instead, pray when you get ready in the morning, or do your morning work out. Pray in the shower, or the car on the way to work. What is important here is the focus that you are giving your day. Invite him to be a part of your day and to walk with you all day long. He’s there anyway, but when you focus on Him being there your day has a totally different look to it.

Next, throughout the day as you have a free minute, as you use the facilities, or as you struggle, find time to seek God! He doesn’t have the answers people, He IS the answer! Doing this will help you build momentum through your day and week. You’ll find that you are more in tune to what God’s doing in your life, and what He has in store for you. I know that recently I’ve gone back to doing these things and the momentum is coming back to my life. I’ve learned over time to see it slipping earlier in the process than ever before. I’ve learned to put more logs on the fire if I want to keep an ongoing, lasting flame. I now do what I can to tend to the flame, do you?