Taking the Time for God

Wow these last few months have certainly flown by. I have been doing quite a bit with work and I sometimes find it hard to do anything but take a nap when I get home from work, even if I have other things to do. I love my job! For those of you that don't know, I work at LaSalle Street Church here in Chicago. A lot of my work involves working with the outreach ministries in the church so I don't spend a whole lot of time in the office. Admittedly, I have found myself very into the work that I am doing and sometimes I forget to take care of my needs, especially spiritual needs. Obviously working in a church, almost all of my work involves talking about or being an example of God's love, but a lot of times it feels like I am just doing work. I forget to take a second and think, "wow, that was God" or "this work is an extension of God's love." I find myself instead thinking, "when do I need this done by?" or, "did I get everything done today?" It may sound like there isn't really a difference in those mentalities, but there is a big difference for me. I have found myself making God's work into more of a task or a job, and not something that I should do because I am a Christian.
During all of this, my daily prayer routine has kind of faltered as well. I have doubted God on more than one occasion. "Why am I here? What do you want from me? Why did you choose me?" Questioning God can sometimes be a taboo thing to talk about, right? (Especially for someone who works in a church.) My relationship with God has definitely gotten better as of late, but I got a long way to go. I have found myself prioritizing other things over taking time out of my day to talk with God. So the question becomes how do I do that? How do I start to find little ways to take time out of my day just to talk to God? How do I begin to prioritize that again?
Obviously a lot of it is just a mentality thing. I have to intentionally take time to sit down and be with God. However, I think there is more to it than that. I have to change the way that I see the impact that God has in my life. I need to take time and realize all of the things that God has done for me. I need to let go and let God.
By far my favorite part of my week is Wednesday night when I get to work with Breaking Bread, our homeless meal ministry. I get to help prepare meals, serve, and clean up after. I find that conversations I have with both volunteers and guests alike always seem to be God-giving. None of this ever feels like a task, it is thoroughly enjoyable every single week. If only I could apply that mentality to every task that I do. I think recognizing what I really enjoy is the first step in the process of figuring things out. I want to work in non-profits and if I could make everything as enjoyable as Breaking Bread, well that would be alright by me. This week, I challenge you to think about things that you enjoy and why you enjoy them. Try to change your mentality on things you don't enjoy. And of course, let go and let God.