4 Ways to Connect with God When Life is Crazy

Is life feeling a little crazy right now?

You might have a newborn and be in survival mode. Perhaps you just started a new job and are trying to figure out your new routine. Maybe you’re running yourself ragged taking your kids to all their practices, performances, games, and activities.

You have too many places to be, too much stuff to do, and too many people relying on you.

And, oh yeah, try to squeeze in an hour-long quiet time in there every day, okay?

I think many of us feel that if we don’t have an hour, thirty minutes, or even fifteen minutes to devote to serious, uninterrupted “quiet time” that we shouldn’t even bother.  Somehow, we’ve gotten the idea that meaningful interactions with God can’t happen in five minutes, or even in one minute.

Why is that?

We don’t expect every interaction with our friends, spouses, or children to be rich, life-changing experiences. Even deeply intimate relationships are filled with quiet, everyday moments: gentle hugs before leaving; sweet smiles over lunch; little chats about daily life; quick snuggles before bed. These mundane, seemingly insignificant moments form the foundation for deeper interactions. 

So why do we expect our relationship with God to be different? 

Why do we expect every moment we spend with God to be lengthy, worshipful bliss? When real life just doesn’t leave room for a lengthy time of prayer and Bible study, why not let go of guilt and connect with God in small ways throughout your day? Those brief moments aren’t insignificant. In fact, I think they lay the foundation and whet your appetite for even deeper connection with God later.

When time is short and life feels out of control, you can connect with God in the midst of the craziness by filling your home with scripture, praying one sentence at a time, listening to scripture and good teaching, and listening to worshipful music. 

1// Fill Your Home with Scripture

I love buying and framing beautiful scripture printables. I have them in several rooms in our home, and I have even more pieces just waiting to be hung up. 

Displaying verses or quotes from hymns throughout your home is a great way to remind yourself of Biblical truth throughout your day. You won’t notice them every day, but you may be surprised at how they pop out at you on days when you need a little extra encouragement.

If you don’t want to bother with frames, I also have a lot of friends who write their own verses on chalkboards or whiteboards in their homes. You can even use whiteboard markers to write on mirrors, windows, or sliding glass doors! 

Whatever the medium, filling your home with Biblical encouragement is an excellent way to connect with God throughout the day.

2// Pray, One Sentence at a Time

I think many of us hear others pray in public and feel intimidated. Their lengthy prayers are eloquent and inspirational, and our own prayers seem dull and clumsy in comparison. 

Whether we’re praying aloud or silently, our prayers are not an opportunity to show off our spiritual vocabulary. (Remember the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector: God wants humility, not bravado!) Prayer is an opportunity for finite humans to commune with an infinite God. 

Your prayers don’t have to be long or filled with big words to bring you into God’s presence.  You can come to Him throughout your day to repent, to ask for help, or to offer praise, even if you only have a few simple sentences to offer. 

• Thank you, Jesus, that we have enough food to eat.

• God, thank you for the beautiful birds that visit my yard every morning.

• Father, forgive me for being frustrated during my child’s screaming, crying meltdown at the grocery store today. 

• Holy Spirit, thank you for giving me hope when I’m afraid.

Because of Jesus, our humble prayers will always be heard, even the short ones.

3// Listen to Scripture and Good Teaching

I think one problem many of us struggle with is that we feel like we specifically have to read (with our eyeballs) the Bible to get something out of it. Why not listen to God’s Word as well?

I know what you’re thinking: I’m a visual learner! I don’t get as much out of when I listen instead of read it!

I get it, I’m pretty visual too. But, if you actually don’t have time to read, isn’t listening to it still going to be better than doing nothing?

A little over a year ago I was in the middle of a chronological Bible read-through. As usual, I’d gotten stuck in the Old Testament, so I decided to try something different: listening to my daily “readings” while I was getting ready in the morning or while in the car.

That small change made a huge impact in my life. 

I began to look forward to that part of my morning instead of feeling guilty about it. I would listen to more than one day’s worth of my reading plan each day, just because I was enjoying it so much. When life calmed down and I had more time, I would go back and actually read and study the passage later. Listening to God’s Word a little bit at a time actually set the foundation for me to study it more deeply at other times. 

The YouVersion app makes it really easy to choose a reading plan and then listen to it on your phone. There are also fancier audio versions of the Bible that have music and sound effects. Do some research, try a few out, and figure out what you like!

After I started listening to the Bible, I also began to enjoy many different Christian podcasts. There is a lot of excellent Biblical teaching out there and it's all completely free. Listening to great teaching helps me know and love the Bible more, even when I don't have a lot of time to sit down and study a passage for myself.

There are about a dozen faith-based podcasts that I subscribe to, but my favorites are Unlocking the Bible with Colin Smith, The Gospel Coalition, and Help Me Teach the Bible with Nancy Guthrie.

4// Listen to Worshipful Music

Sometimes I want to focus on God, but the task at hand requires my full attention or my brain is fried to the point that even listening to someone talk sounds too hard.

That’s when I listen to worshipful music.

I struggle with a tendency to turn on the television just for “background noise.” I’ll turn on a show I’ve seen several times and then half-listen to it as I do something else. Now, television isn’t all bad, so I’m not planning on completely cutting it out of my life, but I’ve been making an effort to at least keep it off when I’m not actually watching it. 

Instead, I make a conscious choice to listen to music. Specifically, music that directs my thoughts to God. I have a few different playlists I’ve created for different moods, and I often enjoy listening to contemporary versions of hymns from groups like Page CXVI. If that’s not your thing, no worries! Any music that reminds you of Biblical truth will do!

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Whatever the cause, sometimes life gets overwhelming. In those times, connecting with God might seem close to impossible. Instead of feeling guilty because you can’t spend as much time in prayer or Bible study as you would like, focus on the small ways you can connect with God throughout your day. As you do, you’ll be laying the foundation for deeper connection with God later, as things calm down a bit.

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Respond

How about you? When life gets crazy, how do you connect with God throughout your day?

Don't Waste Your Waiting

Most of us spend a good amount of time in our lives waiting for something. I don’t just mean waiting for the dryer to finish, or for the light to turn green. I mean waiting on big things: exciting and sometimes important things that you pray God will do in your life.

Maybe you’re waiting to get married, to find a better job, or to buy your own home. You could be waiting for a baby, or for your toddler to be potty trained, or for your kids to remember to put their dirty clothes in the hamper forgoodnesssakes. You could be waiting for a restored relationship, a new friendship, or for bodily healing.

Whatever you’re waiting for: don’t waste the waiting. God wants to work in your heart and make you more like him right now. There are plenty of ways God can use you to impact those around you for eternity today.  Don’t ignore opportunities for growth and service that God is putting before you now, just because you’re waiting for him to do something else.

Colossians 3:16-17 says:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

As we wait on God to act in a myriad of ways in our lives, let’s choose for today, to allow Christ to dwell in us richly. Let’s wisely teach and encourage one another. Let’s sing praises to God with gratitude. Let’s serve others with joy and humility. Let’s do everything, including waiting, gratefully, growing in our love for Christ.

A Prayer for the Wait

Precious Father, as we wait on you to act, please give us strength and wisdom to see what you have for us to learn and do today. Open our eyes to opportunities to encourage one another in Christlikeness. Help us serve others with humble love, without frustrations or selfishness. We believe, but we need your help with our unbelief. Allow us to trust your timing, even when the waiting seems long and aimless. Give us grateful hearts that love to praise you. Amen. 

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Respond

How has God used times of waiting to shape you into the person you are today? 

3 Ways Repentance Can Lead You to Joy

There’s a lot of baggage surrounding the idea of repentance.

I don’t know about you, but the first thing that enters my mind when I hear the word “repent” is people standing on street corners carrying signs and shouting into megaphones: “Repent, sinners!”

Probably not the most effective way to spread the Gospel.

I think these sorts of tactics are part of why many people have a negative association with the idea of repentance. It seems too harsh and unloving to tell anyone, believer or unbeliever, that they must repent of their sin.

What an impoverished misconception! Repentance is essential to the Gospel: the most beautiful and loving message of all.

But, that message doesn’t make sense or seem loving without acknowledging sin. Why would anyone need Christ to save them from their sins if they don’t actually believe they’re sinners? If they think they’re already a “pretty good” person without Him? If they’ve already been saved, and think that means they can just do as they please?

True repentance begins with brokenness:

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Psalm 51:3-4

To repent, you must be grieved by your sin to the point that you accept the blame for your choices and are willing to make any change necessary to be rid of it. Any pleasure that your sin formerly brought you is replaced with repulsion.

Repentance is not at all easy or pleasant, at least not to begin with, but it leads to deep and lasting joy. It will lead you to joy because of God’s abundant mercy, because you have the security of your forgiveness, and because you have freedom from enslavement to sin.

Joy in Mercy

Repentance gives us joy because of God’s mercy. To understand the depths of that mercy, we must first understand our sin, and its consequences in our lives.

Sin is rebellion against God. Anything less than perfect obedience to God is a sin: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

(I don’t know about you, but I’m really starting to sweat here...)

God’s Word clearly articulates that our rebellion against God has a divisive and deadly impact.

Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), because God’s perfect holiness cannot be contaminated, or it wouldn’t be perfectly holy anymore.  It’s also deadly. Paul’s letter to believers in Rome doesn’t mince words on this point. He says, "the wages of sin is death” (Romans 8:23, emphasis mine). When we disobey God, that sin must be paid for, and the price is death. Without Christ, that means that we not only physically die, but spiritually die by being separated from God for eternity. Yikes.

Amazingly, instead of allowing us to suffer the proper consequences for our rebellion, God interceded to absorb our punishment Himself:  “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:23).

In his justice and mercy, God sent his Son to absorb His righteous wrath for us so that we could exchange condemnation for holiness: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

His mercy to us is incomparable. A repentant believer can be filled with joy knowing the lengths to which God has gone to save them from sin.

Joy in the Security of Your Forgiveness

Repentance also gives us joy because we have confidence that God will forgive us: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf gives us confidence to approach God for forgiveness. Because of the cross, we can be sure that we will receive mercy and grace from God when we approach him with humble repentance. He will not turn us away.

For me, this is the hardest part of repentance: believing that God completely forgives me the instant I repent. His forgiveness does not hinge on my ability to make amends for my sin.

Here on Earth, a genuine, humble confession will more often be met with anger or hard-heartedness than with immediate forgiveness and restoration of relationship. We’re simply not used to people forgiving us right away without them becoming angry. Even in a deep relationship, we expect that trust and love will require time to heal.

Not so with God.

God will not reject us when we humbly repent. His forgiveness is perfect and complete the moment we confess. The sacrifice of Jesus has already paid the price, and there is nothing more we could or would need to do to restore our relationship with Him. We are already loved and forgiven:  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Joy in Freedom

When we have repented and been forgiven we are not only set free from guilt, but also from slavery to our sin.

Before Christ, we were enslaved to sin because our selfish desires held us captive. Once justified before God through Christ, we are set free from our slavery to sin and take on Christ’s righteousness as our own (Romans 6:17-18, 2 Corinthians 5:21). We receive the Holy Spirit, who enables us to obey God joyfully, just as Christ does.

Although God delights in our obedience (1 Samuel 15:22), we must remember that it does not elevate us in His eyes: we are always His children.. Obedience is what we owed God anyway, so we will not be more our less his children based on our righteous deeds. Our standing before God is secure, once and forever.

For the believer, obedience is freedom. It is an act of worship and love (John 14:!5). It is the path of life, giving us fullness of joy in God’s presence, and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 
Psalm 16:11

Repentance is difficult but life-giving. It is an essential part of our initial justification before God and of our life-long sanctification. Growing in Christlikeness is an ongoing process; perfection in this life cannot be attained, so consistent repentance is crucial. As we become more like Him, we will continually come before God with our sins and find joy in God’s mercy, forgiveness, and freedom.

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Resource

Gavin Ortlund for Desiring God: “Four Steps Toward Joy in Repentance.”

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Respond

When you feel broken in your sin, how does repentance return you to joy? What scriptures remind you of the joy you have in God's mercy, steadfast forgiveness, and freedom when you repent?