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[WW] Quiet Time with God · The Wesley Word

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Wesley Word.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Zoe Verostik.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a senior health science major with minors in French and youth development studies.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Then after graduation, I'm going to medical school.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so on the next slide, it's just pictures of my family, friends, and just people who mean a lot to me and it made a big impact on my life.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so tonight, go to the next slide.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: And more specifically, like the excuses that we make so that we don't spend time with God.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so on the next slide, we actually have a couple of common excuses that like I've used, or I know people that have used them.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so the first one is quiet time with God.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Have you seen my schedule?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Or I don't like when it's too quiet.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: I don't have time to slow down.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'll feel better if I get to my to-do list first, or I'll do it tomorrow.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a bunch of other excuses.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but basically the point is that it's so easy to make an excuse for why you can't spend time with God or why you don't spend time with God.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I personally dealt with this a lot because I want to go to med school, and so it's been so much, like so many things that I need to do to get to that point, while also maintaining like family responsibilities, keeping friends, and just being a part of clubs.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so this really kind of hits home for me, um, and I hope it hits home for some other people as well.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so on the next slide, I'm actually gonna talk about three different stories from the Bible.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're gonna start with Martha, which was our scripture reading between the second and third songs.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so basically, yeah, I mean you heard the story, but Jesus was coming to Mary and Martha's home, and when he arrived, Mary just sat down and she decided that she's gonna talk to him.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but Martha decided, you know what?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: I have a million things I need to do.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: I need to get the house ready, get the food ready, make sure everyone is just being taken care of.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so when she gets mad at Mary, she's like, Jesus, tell her to help me out.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, No, she chose what was better.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Then we're gonna talk about Job, specifically in Job 15.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: But Job is a very um great Christian, he was very faithful to the Lord, and the Lord was very faithful to him, but unfortunately he had some bad things happen and he ended up losing his wife, uh, his children, and just a bunch of other things.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so in his time where he was grieving and really mourning for that loss, he um he had some really great friends who decided to come and support him, and they were gonna grieve with him as well.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: But when they arrived, they decided that they're gonna be like, you know what, you really aren't that good of a Christian.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like, God wouldn't abandon you if um you had been doing all the right things.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh thankfully, he did not listen and he stayed true to who God really was.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: But then we're gonna talk about Jonah.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: And Jonah was called by God to preach to the people of Nineveh.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And Jonah was like, heck no, I will not be doing that.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: And he ran away as fast as he could.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that bit him in the butt because he got caught in a storm and swallowed by a fish.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: And he was there for a couple days when he realized his mistake, and so God helped him get out of there.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: And he did go preach to Nineveh, and he helped save a bunch of people's lives and turned a bunch of people to God.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so, what's the point of me telling you all of these stories about these three people?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: What do they have in common?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: They all used excuses as to why they needed to be away from God.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Mary or Martha was so busy with her schedule that she just didn't sit with God.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he was in her home and he just she just decided not to.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Job had amazing friends who were there to comfort him, but they distracted him from who God truly was.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: And Jonah was just flat out scared of what God was truly calling him to do with his life.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think this is really similar to what we as college students do.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're so busy with school, friends, family, everything above that we don't take time to be with God.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe we don't like being in silence and we fill that with music or with homework or just other different things, so that we don't have to sit in that silence.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe we're just flat out scared of what he might be calling us to do because we know it'll probably be difficult.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but and I don't think these things are inherently bad.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's not bad to have a busy schedule, it's not bad to want to fill your time with relaxation after having such busy lives.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not bad to be scared of what God might be calling you to do.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: But I think what's bad is what we choose to do with those emotions, what we do with those things.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so I really want to encourage all of you to try and find ways to be with God, um, which is totally easier said than done.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm 21 and I barely have figured out things that I can do that help me to spend time with God.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: But I think we really need to try.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so on the next slide, I have a couple of different solutions for people if these resonate with you.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I really want to emphasize you do not have to spend hours a day with God.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's that's difficult to do.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, really, it could be just a 30-second prayer every day, and gradually you build up to a couple minutes.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you decide to go for a walk outside and you just turn the music off and you decide just to walk and speak with God while you're there.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: It could be as simple as writing down a scripture on a sticky note and reading it as you pass it throughout the day and just thanking God for that scripture.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: Or it could be finding a devotional that you read a chapter a week, or maybe even a gratitude journal.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: But there's so many other possibilities.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many things you can mix and match to get to something that really resonates with you and something that really works for you.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: But we really need to try.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: We can't use these excuses anymore to stay away from God.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so on the last slide, I have a couple questions.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: We don't need to talk about them now, but I really want you guys to think about them throughout the week.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just which of these three people from the Bible do you resonate with the most?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And what do you use as an excuse to stay away from God?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then finally, how can you practice more ways to be with God?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: So if you'll bow your head with me, I'll pray.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for this day and for allowing me to speak and really talk about what I've learned these past four years in college and throughout my whole life.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: I pray that this really resonates with some people and that they can build their relationship with you.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Near my prayer.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Wesley Word is a production of the Clemson Wesley Foundation.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Clemson Wesley, check out our website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, get out there and love your neighbor.