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by Ami Samuels

When I first began my spiritual journey, I found it difficult to fit time with God into my schedule. As a stay at home mom with two young boys, I struggled to find quiet time of any kind, let alone for Bible study and prayer. If you read my previous blog post “When I Hated Solitude,” you know that I found total silence uncomfortable and had to learn to embrace this quiet time with God.

When both of my children were in school all day, I wanted to spend time serving God. I wanted to be busy and I found I was throwing myself into service. An odd thing began to happen: the harder I tried to fill my time with volunteer opportunities, the spots would be filled or volunteers were no longer needed. I was confused. I felt rejected, and I questioned what was wrong with me that I wasn’t needed even as an unpaid volunteer. It didn’t make earthly sense.

One day I was at the end of my humanly efforts, so I fell to my knees and cried out to God in prayer. I asked Him what He wanted me to do. I confessed that I was done trying to figure it out on my own and I was willing to do what He was calling me to do. The answer came in a whisper: “Be still and know that I am God.”

That day I began a journey of spending quiet uninterrupted time with God on a daily basis in Bible study and prayer. Over time I found myself spending more and more time with Him. As a matter of fact, some days I wouldn’t start my day until noon, after my quiet time was over.

Then I began to question, “Why was my quiet time filling up most of my days?” Every day wasn’t the same. I always spent time in Bible study, prayer, and quietly sitting at His feet, but I also listened to praise music or spent time writing or reading a devotion. But I remember thinking that I know solid Christians who don’t spend this much time with God on a daily basis (I had asked them) and they were serving and ministering to people every day. They were productive Christians. Again, I prayed and asked God for the answer.

One day after praying about this, I felt God whisper to me, “If you want to minister to my children, you will minister in the overflow of me in your life. That first half an hour or so is for you, the rest of the time is for you to minister in the overflow of me in your life.”

I would have to say it is in that time after my personal Bible study and prayer that I have written most of my books, Faith Talk ideas, and speaking engagement topics.

I don’t share this for a pat on the back (obviously I fought the process), but I share it because I have learned that instead of fitting God into my life, it is important to make my time with Him a priority, especially if I want to fulfill the call on my life to serve others, serving them out of the overflow of God in my life.

I encourage you to spend time soaking up God’s word and His presence. The benefits are too numerous to mention, but I cannot think of a better way to live than in the overflow of God in our lives.

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