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Communing with Christ on a Crazy Day · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reform Thinking. Today we're doing a deep dive
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into something I think everyone listening has probably wrestled
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with maybe even this morning. It's that common challenge.
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Yeah. How do you maintain any kind of
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spiritual vitality, that connection with Christ, when the
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day just goes sideways right from the start?
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We're looking for, you know, the practical guidance for a
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Christian living when life doesn't stick to the nice neat
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plan you had for your morning quiet time.
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Yeah, we've gathered quite a bit of material for this one.
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We've got notes, various excerpts, all touching on the
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theology and the actual practice of what are often called
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spiritual habits or means of grace.
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And a really strong theme that comes through again and again in
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these sources is how crucial adaptability is.
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These habits, they need to be flexible and maybe even more
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central. They have to foster dependence
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on Christ, not not lead us towards self-reliance.
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That's key. Because interruptions, they
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aren't really exceptions, are they?
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They're just part of living in this fallen world.
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They really are, especially if you're in certain seasons of
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life. Absolutely.
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So the aim here isn't about having the perfectly performed
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morning routine every single day.
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I mean, that feels like a myth sometimes, doesn't it?
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Particularly if you're, say, parenting young kids or your
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work schedule is unpredictable. Maybe you're caring for elderly
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parents? All sorts of things can throw
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that ideal schedule off. Right, so the big question we
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want to explore for you listening in is this how do we
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actually seek daily communion with Christ when you know,
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circumstances, relational duties, unexpected demands, or
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just plain exhaustion completely mess up that plan quiet time.
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OK, so let's start with the foundation.
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What's the actual point of these morning spiritual routines,
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these habits of grace? The sources are really clear on
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this. The entire goal, the whole
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reason they exist, is for communion with the risen Christ.
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It's about connecting with Him in and through His Word.
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It's relational. That's a helpful starting point
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connection. Yes, and the sources make a
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distinction right away that I think brings a lot of freedom.
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They say the vital thing, the element we really need to
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protect is the regular pattern of seeking that communion.
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It's not necessarily about having a super long time every
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single day. Consistency over duration you
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could say. OK, that's interesting, because
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I think a lot of people, myself included, sometimes we get hung
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up on the clock. Yeah.
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You know, you have this idea that if you don't hit 30 minutes
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or 45 minutes or whatever your target is, then somehow it
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didn't count or the time was wasted.
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Or worse, maybe you feel like the whole day is now kind of
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spiritually off track because you didn't get your full time
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in. Right, that checking the box
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mentality, yeah. But if the goal is connection,
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like you said, not just logging minutes, that really does shift
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the perspective, doesn't it? It means prioritizing that
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regular touch point, that consistent pattern, more than
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the sheer quantity of time on any given day.
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Exactly, the sources really drive this home.
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Bible reading, Meditation, prayer.
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They're not about ticking off items on a spiritual To Do List.
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Their real value, their their whole purpose is found in the
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relational connection they help foster.
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It's meant to be a dialogue with God.
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OK, so that leaves to the next point, which feels just as
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critical, maybe even more so theologically, what these
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routines are not. Yes, this is so essential for
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for walking in freedom. This the sources stress this
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Performing your morning routine perfectly.
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Even if you managed it, that does not somehow secure God's
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favor or blessing for the day. We just can't put God in our
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debt by being diligent in our quiet time.
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That's a huge relief, honestly, because it's so easy to slip
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into thinking that way isn't. It it really is walking in God's
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grace today, experiencing His help and strength.
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It's not dependent on whether you managed to get through your
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whole devotional plan this morning, or even if you managed
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any routine for that matter. When we forget that, it's like
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the routine itself curdles into this sort of functional
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legalism, the source material. I actually spend some time kind
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of diagnosing this thought pattern.
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You know, I did my quiet time well today, so God owes me a
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smooth day. Or the flip side, Oh, I blew it
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this morning. I missed my time.
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So now I can't really expect God's help.
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And that completely misunderstands grace.
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It turns this gift, this means of connecting with God, into a
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kind of work that we perform to try and well, earn God's help or
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favor. Like a long season of good quiet
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times, somehow banks goodwill with God.
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That's just not how Greece operates.
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It really isn't. And that kind of thinking, that
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functional legalism, it often makes us blind to another danger
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the sources warn about. Yes, the self-reliance trap.
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This one's tricky. It is because it sounds almost
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backward at first. The sources warn that someone
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can actually have a really extensive time reading,
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journaling, praying, and then step right out of that time and
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into a day where they're basically operating in their own
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strength. It happens easily.
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You feel spiritually full, you feel prepared, maybe even
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accomplished because you had such a good recession.
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And the subtle thought is, OK, I've got this.
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I'm equipped now. I can handle whatever today
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throws at me. And here's where the sources get
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really sharp. They point out this danger of,
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well, spiritual pride. Essentially, they actually
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warned that the very days when you feel most spiritually
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successful, when you feel like you really nailed your quiet
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time, those can often be the days you're most likely to rely
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on your own perceived strength rather than consciously
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depending on the strength of God supplies.
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It's a sobering thought. The discussion often points
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towards the principle in First Peter 4 about serving by the
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strengths that God supplies. While that verse is about
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ministry actions towards others. The sources apply that principle
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inwardly to even the discipline of meeting with God.
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The quiet time itself needs to be done by the strength He
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provides. So if the result of your quiet
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time is feeling capable in yourself because of your effort,
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the routine is actually backfired in a way.
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Backfired. How so?
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Because it's true purpose is to drive us to dependence.
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It should lead us to say wow, look at God's truth and
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goodness. I desperately need His strength
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drawn from this reality to face this day.
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I can't do it on my own. Even after this good time.
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The sense of accomplishment should lead to gratitude and
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deeper reliance. Not OK.
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I'm fueled up by my own efforts. It's about dependence.
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Always dependence. OK, so the goal is communion,
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connection, dependence, not just checking boxes or earning favor.
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That makes sense. So how does this understanding
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help us when you know the day immediately throws us that
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curveball we talked about? Let's connect this theological
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freedom to the real world, our families, our roommates, our
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neighbors. Right, because communing with
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God regularly, establishing that vertical connection, it's
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supposed to have good horizontal effects.
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That's one of the intended outcomes.
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Being connected to God, drawing life from Him, is actually a
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very loving thing towards the people around you.
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How so? Can you unpack that a bit?
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Well, the sources argue that a soul that's genuinely sustained
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by a real active relationship with God, someone who is resting
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in his grace, that person will naturally become over time a
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better spouse, a more patient parent, a more understanding
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friend, a kinder neighbor. When we're filled up vertically,
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we have more to give horizontally, we're generally
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less irritable, quicker to forgive, more willing to
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sacrifice our own comfort or agenda for someone else's needs.
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So these spiritual habits, they're actually part of
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preparing us for the ministry of love, especially right there in
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our own homes. That's a great perspective.
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The quiet time isn't just for me, it equips me to love others
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better. Exactly.
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And normally the best way to do that is, if possible, to take
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that time, even if it's brief, to feed your own soul so you can
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return refueled and ready to engage.
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But sometimes life just crashes in.
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Yeah. And that's where this idea the
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sources mentioned comes in, something they call the path of
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love. What does that mean?
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The path of love is the term used to describe those
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situations where you have to prioritize immediate relational
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duties over your plan, personal time with God.
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It means that sometimes the most loving thing to do, the most
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obedient thing to do, requires you to consciously, maybe even
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painfully, die to your desire for that quiet time alone.
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Even though that desires for a good thing like Bible study and
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prayer, but you set it aside to meet an urgent legitimate need
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right in front of you. OK, now this creates a real
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tension, I think, especially for people who already find it
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really hard to carve out any time for spiritual habits.
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When does prioritizing a duty stop being this path of love and
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just become, well, an excuse to skip your quiet time?
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That's a tricky line, isn't? It it is tricky, and the sources
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address this by pointing to love as the governing principle.
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Love has to dictate the choice in that moment.
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If you're faced with the choice between, say, trying to grab 5
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minutes of reading versus immediately meeting a genuine,
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urgent need of someone God has placed in your care, like a
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family member, maybe a guest, the call of love generally takes
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precedence. Can you give some concrete
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examples? What does this look like on a
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Tuesday morning? Sure, the sources give scenario
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like this. Maybe your toddler wakes up
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sick, crying, needing comfort and care right now, 2 hours
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before you plan to get up. The path of love means attending
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to your child immediately. Or perhaps you have family
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visiting from out of town. Showing hospitality might mean
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you need to be up making breakfast and engaging with them
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when you'd normally be having your quiet time.
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That's love and action. Or maybe your spouse is having a
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really rough morning, emotionally fragile, needing
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your support and presence right away.
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Assisting them becomes the priority.
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So in those moments, the immediate relational need
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overrides the personal spiritual discipline.
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Yes, you're essentially choosing to sacrifice what feels like a
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personal good, your devotion time for what is, in that
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specific context, the greater immediate good.
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Obeying the command to love your neighbor who happens to be right
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there needing you. And this, you're saying, is why
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our routines have to be flexible.
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Absolutely. This is the core reason.
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If your plan for morning devotions is so rigid, so
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inflexible, that you feel frustrated or resentful when a
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sick child or a needy spouse interrupts it, then the routine
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itself might have become a subtle idol.
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It's getting in the way of love rather than fueling it.
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So love for God, expressed through love for others, has to
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be the principle that shapes the routine and dictates when it
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needs to adapt, collapse, or even be set aside for a moment.
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OK, this idea of flexibility driven by love is really
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helpful. Let's dig into the practical
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solution those sources offer for this, what they call the Expand
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Collapse model. Because we've established that
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these crazy mornings or even crazy seasons, you know, those
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first exhausting months with a newborn or a period of intense
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work demands, they're basically inevitable.
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So our habits need to be built for that reality.
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That's right. The sources really push for
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designing a structure that's inherently fluid.
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The idea is to have a core routine that can ideally expand
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when you have more time, maybe an hour, maybe even longer on a
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good day. But crucially, that same core
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routine needs to be able to collapse down to just 10
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minutes, maybe even 5, when love requires it or circumstances
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dictate it. So the goal isn't necessarily
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hitting a certain time target, but ensuring the pattern of
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seeking communion happens daily somehow.
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Yes, that's the key. Maintain the consistent contact
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even if the duration gets squeezed drastically on some
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days. We're aiming for that regular
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touchpoint with Christ. What I find interesting in the
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material is that the basic underlying pattern, the
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sequence, stays the same whether you have 10 minutes or 75.
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Exactly that core structure provides the stability, the
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anchor, and it's simple. Step one, start with Bible
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reading, Step 2 moving to some form of meditation on what you
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just read, and step three, finish or Polish as one source
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puts it, with prayer. Reading meditation.
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That's the sequence. That's the fixed sequence.
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But what you do within each of those steps, the depth, the
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volume, the focus, that's entirely fluid and adaptable
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based on the time you. Have OK, let's flesh that out.
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First, the expanded routine. This is what we aim for when
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time allows, right? When you have that hour or more,
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what does that look like? In the expanded version you have
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margin, so for reading you can likely read all the passages, a
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sign, and whatever Bible reading plan you might be following.
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You're not rushed. And then with that extra time
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you can add valuable layers. The sources suggest things like
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journaling, writing down thoughts, applications,
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questions that came up from the reading or using some of that
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time for Scripture memory, taking a key verse or passage
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and really working to internalize it.
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And the prayer part expands too. Definitely.
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Instead of a quick request, you can linger in prayer.
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This isn't just about a longer list of things to ask for, it's
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about a more thoughtful conversation with God.
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The source is often mentioned moving through different aspects
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of prayer like adoration, praising God for who He is based
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on what you just read, then confession, acknowledging your
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own sin and need in light of His Holiness, followed by
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Thanksgiving, expressing gratitude specifically, and then
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supplication, making your request for yourself and others.
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This fuller process really helps recalibrate the heart and mind
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for the day. OK, that sounds ideal when
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possible. But now the crucial part for
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many listeners? The collapsed routine?
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The strategy for those 10 minute list mornings?
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We need the specifics here. How do you get meaningful
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spiritual connection in such a short window following that same
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read, meditate, pray sequence? Right, this is where surgical
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precision comes in. We stick to the three steps, but
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we drastically shrink the scope of each.
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So step one reading. Instead of trying to read
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multiple chapters or even a whole chapter, you just grab one
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small piece. Think a short Psalm like Psalm
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23, or maybe just one parable from the gospels, or even just a
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few verses from an epistle like James or first John.
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The goal is a quick, focused immersion, a single morsel of
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God's word. Not trying to cover a lot of
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ground. OK.
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One short passage then how do you do the meditation step?
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Because normally meditation feels like something that needs
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time and quiet reflection. How do you meditate in like 2
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minutes? It has to be laser focused.
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In the collapsed routine, you're not trying to analyze the whole
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passage or it's a deep theological connections.
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Instead, you actively look for just one specific manifestation
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of God's goodness or character revealed in that small text.
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Did it show His patience? His faithfulness, His wisdom,
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His generous provision, His authority.
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Pick one thing. Then for maybe 60 seconds you
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meditate specifically on that one quality being true for you
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right now because of Jesus. You remind yourself, because of
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Christ, this aspect of God's goodness, His faithfulness, His
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power is available to me today. And you consciously try to press
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that single truth into your heart.
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You might even pray. Lord help me believe this and
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live in light of this one truth today.
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OK, read a snippet, find one good thing about God, focus on
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it being for me in Jesus. Yeah, got it.
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Then how does the prayer step work if you've only got maybe a
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minute or two left? The prayer becomes direct
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application of that one truth. You pray that truth back to God.
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You take that single idea you just focused on God's
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faithfulness, for instance, and you pray it in light of the
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immediate needs and pressures of the day that are probably
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already swirling around you. So if you read Psalm 23 and
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focused on God being your shepherd who provides your
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prayer might be something like Lord, thank you that you are my
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shepherd. Please show your provision right
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now as I face this crazy morning with the kids.
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Help me trust your care, especially when I feel totally
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overwhelmed by mention specific need you also add any other
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immediate spontaneous requests, of course.
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But grounding the prayer in that one piece of scripture, however
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small, gives it focus and depth, even when it's incredibly brief.
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It's like a concentrated shot of spiritual sustenance.
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Let's push this even further. We talked about the Path of Love
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scenarios, the toddler with a high fever, the sudden family
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crisis where even that compressed 10 minute three-step
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routine just isn't going to happen.
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Maybe you have literally zero time between waking up and
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dealing with the urgent situation.
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What's the absolute minimum then?
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What does the ultimate collapse look like according to the
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sources? Yeah, the sources are pretty
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realistic about this possibility.
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They acknowledge that sometimes time is so tight, the margin is
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completely gone. In that situation, the absolute
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bare minimum requirement, the last resort, is to at least
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pause briefly to pray. We're talking maybe 30 seconds.
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It might be while you're standing over the child's crib
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or literally while you're putting on your shoes to rush
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out the door. Just a conscious, intentional
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pause for prayer. OK, so in that hyper collapse
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scenario, the goal isn't even trying to execute the read,
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meditate, pray sequence anymore. No, you have to let go of that.
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The goal shifts entirely. It becomes about consciously
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initiating a spirit of prayer and dependence that you intend
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to carry with you into the day's activities.
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It's an immediate, upfront acknowledgement.
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Lord, I am entering this day totally dependent on You, right
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from this moment, without the preparation I wanted.
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Does that brief prayer need a specific focus?
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Yes, the sources suggest it should be very specific in
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acknowledging reality and casting yourself on God.
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First, you acknowledge to God what's happening.
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Lord, circumstances and really the call of love right now are
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pushing me straight into the day's demands without any time
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to prepare. Second, you consciously renounce
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any idea of earning His help. I know I can't earn your
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strength or blessing with a long, quiet time anyway.
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And third, you make a direct plea for his enablement.
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What's the core of that plea? What are you asking for in that
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32nd prayer? The essential request, as the
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sources frame it, is this. You specifically ask that Christ
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would show himself strong today by being your strength,
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especially because you feel weak and unprepared.
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It's basically playing Lord, I am running on empty here.
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I didn't get to fill my spiritual tank this morning.
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I am completely reliant on you to provide the strength, the
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wisdom, the patience I need moment by moment, directly from
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yourself. This act shifts the focus
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entirely away from your performance in a routine and on
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to Christ's sufficient grace received right now in your
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weakness. And that connects directly to
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the theological reason why these crazy days, the ones where
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everything goes wrong with our plans, it can actually be,
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paradoxically, opportunities for greater dependence and
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experiencing God's grace more keenly.
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Exactly. The source has stated pretty
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plainly that very sense of mythness, the feeling of being
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unprepared and overwhelmed, is actually good for us because it
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clears the way for God to show us his strength when our own
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self-reliance gets shattered. Maybe by the lack of time or the
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stress of the situation, or just the feeling of failure because
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we missed our routine, we are put in the perfect position to
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receive his strength. We're forced to look outside
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ourselves it. Forces us into the reality of
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2nd Corinthians 12.9, doesn't it?
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Precisely. My grace is sufficient for you,
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for my power is made perfect in weakness, the interruption, the
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crazy day. It doesn't thwart God's grace.
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It often just forces us into a more visceral understanding that
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His sufficient grace isn't earned by our quiet time
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performance. It's received in moments of
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acknowledged need and total dependence.
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The sources affirm that Christ can meet us and sustain us right
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there on the move, in the thick of the chaos, just as readily as
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he meets us in the quiet morning chair.
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His presence and strength aren't confined to our scheduled
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appointments. OK, we've spent a lot of time
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talking about personal habits, reading, meditating, praying,
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and how they need to adapt. But there's a risk, maybe of
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focusing only on the individual aspect of God's grace.
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That's a really good point. The sources do provide a broader
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view, reminding us that the means of grace, the ways God
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strengthens and sustains his people, are profoundly corporate
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as well. They aren't just personal
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resources we access alone. And thinking about grace
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corporately seems especially helpful on those crazy mornings
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when that personal alone time with Jesus just didn't happen
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right. Absolutely.
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If your own personal spiritual tank feels empty because you had
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to follow the path of love and skip your routine, it's vital to
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remember that God provides resources outside of just you
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and your Bible. He's given us the body of
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Christ, the fellowship of believers, and that community is
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a channel of His grace, too. So what's the practical
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application here? If I couldn't get my personal
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time in, what should I be looking for corporately?
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The sources suggest this. Don't forget the availability of
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fellowship as a genuine means of God's grace.
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If your time alone was impossible, the adaptable
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strategy involves being intentionally on the lookout for
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even a small morsel of gospel encouragement through
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conversation with someone else who loves Jesus.
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So talking to another Christian can actually be a substitute, in
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a way, for missed quiet time. Not exactly a substitute
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perhaps, but a valid alternative channel of grace for that
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moment. It might be your spouse.
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It could be a quick chat with a Christian friend or Co worker
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you happen to see early in the day.
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It might even be a meaningful text exchange.
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We often think spiritual nourishment has to be something
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we prepare ourselves alone, but God often uses others to deliver
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it. Can you give an example of how
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that might work? Sure, maybe you're right in the
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middle of dealing with that morning crisis, fulfilling that
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relational duty we talked about, and that very relationship
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becomes the conduit for grace. Perhaps you and your spouse just
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exchange a quick word, acknowledging how hard the
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morning is, and one of you says something like, well, his
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mercies are new this morning, even for this.
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Or you point each other to a specific truth about Christ's
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sufficiency. That quick shared moment
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pointing each other to Christ and His goodness can provide
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real spiritual food, real encouragement that you wouldn't
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have had time to find on your own just then.
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That's a really encouraging picture of mutual support within
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the body, because we're not totally cut off from spiritual
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sustenance just because our personal routine got derailed.
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Exactly, it recognizes we live within a community of faith and
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God designed grace to flow through those connections too.
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So when your personal cup feels empty because you were busy
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loving in serving someone else, God can and often does use
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someone else in the body and maybe even the very person you
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were serving to offer a word of truth or encouragement that
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helps sustain your soul. So following that path of love
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doesn't have to mean spiritual starvation, because God provides
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through community as well. That seems to be the clear
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message when we're actively looking for God's provision.
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He can supply it through His Word, read alone, His Spirit
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working in meditation, our own prayers, and through the timely
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words and encouragement of His people.
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Hashtag tag Tag outro. Well, as we start to wrap up
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this deep dive on staying connected during life's
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inevitable chaos, let's try to circle back to the main take
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away. It seems the real value of these
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spiritual habits isn't found in how long we do them or how
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perfectly we perform them. No, not at all.
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It's about their consistent function.
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Do they consistently serve as a means for you to draw near to
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Christ? Do they consistently express
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your dependence on Him? That's the measure.
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And there's tremendous freedom in that, isn't there?
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Yeah. Especially knowing that God's
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grace really is sufficient. Even on those days we feel like
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we failed, like we didn't execute the plan.
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Yes, the freedom of the gospel. You're standing with God, your
22:45
access to His help. It's not measured by the minutes
22:48
on your quiet time clock. The goal is that regular pattern
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of turning to Him in dependence, and that can happen even in a
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highly collapsed, super focused 10 minute routine or like we
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discussed, even in that brief desperate prayer when there's
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zero margin. OK, so finally, as we often do,
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we want to leave you, the listener, with one last thought
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to Mull over something drawn from the sources we looked at.
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It's this. When that crazy day is finally
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over, take a moment later on, maybe that evening, maybe the
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next day, to evaluate what you might learn from the disruption
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for next time. Learn from the chaos.
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Yeah, the idea is that the disruption itself can be
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instructive. Ask yourself, what intention
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could I set now to better anticipate these kinds of
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interruptions because we know they will happen again.
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So thinking proactively. Right.
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Maybe the lesson is needing to get to bed 50 minutes earlier to
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create just a tiny bit more margin before the kids usually
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wake up. Or maybe it's about having that
23:43
class plan ready ahead of time, like taping that short Psalm
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verse to the bathroom mirror or the coffee maker the night
23:49
before, just in case. The sources suggest that this
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kind of intentionality, when it's coupled with a truly
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flexible plan, is what really helps you continue to connect
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with Christ, even on those inevitably crazy days.
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Intentionality plus flexibility. That seems like a good summary.
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So we encourage you to think about that.
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What's the potential lesson learned the next time your
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morning routine gets completely thrown off course?
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Food for thought.