its time.

hosea 10:12 

"... for it is time to seek the Lord.."

the book of hosea paints a picture of Israel's unfaithfulness, which is fitting for me because i have lacked strong faithfulness to the Lord recently. i go through extreme ups and downs in my walk with God and i have a really hard time maintaining a good balance. i feel like i always need to either be on a spiritual high, or say nothing at all. and since i dont always feel like i am on a spiritual high, i tend to say nothing, or{if i am being honest and real} do nothing. i start to slack in my Bible reading, my prayers become more selfish, and i start to slowly sink into a quiet hole of "i have nothing valuable to offer, and i dont know Jesus well, and i am an embarrassment to him." which is not true. it is also not true that you always have to be on some kind of spiritual mountaintop to be close to the Lord. he meets you where you are, which for me is more often on a rocky rabbit trail than a crisp, clear mountaintop. 

nick encouraged me to start reading the daily devotionals that our church puts out, so this morning as i sat out on the patio with my coffee and a fresh page in my journal, i quietly asked Jesus to show me what he wanted me to learn.  the devotion that i picked was based out of hosea. as i read the verse, it felt like a ton of bricks just hit me in the face. "yes, yes Lord. it is time to seek you. time to seek your will, your face, your comfort, your love. you."

charles spurgeon writes that the month of april is said to derive from the latin verb "aperio" which signifies , "to open" because all the buds are opening and blossoming. which makes perfect sense to me. all around we see it happening in nature, things are growing, new growth, buds are blooming, beauty is sprouting up from nothing - we want to mimic nature and we all try to start over, to clean up, to emerge from the tight cocoon we have lived in all winter. but even deeper than that, for me, is opening up and seeking the Lord. all day. every day. not just when i am feeling it spiritually, but pulling apart the pages of my Bible early every morning, or late every afternoon even when i dont feel like i have anything to offer, even when i just feel like facebook is more interesting and important at that moment. getting in his word, seeking him - looking for him, learning from him. 

i am certain that i didnt read this devotion by chance this morning. certain that it was not by chance that i woke up feeling rested at 6am, took time to shower, and sit outside in the cool quiet morning air {instead of catch up on blogs, facebook, pinterest etc...} and read about how it is time to seek the Lord. no, it was just the pure work of the Holy Spirit in my life, directing me towards what God is asking me, all of us really, to do. and you better believe that i am going to obey. 

i doubt it is going to be easy. i doubt that i will stay on track, but i have got to stop wasting so much time and start seeking the Lord - because in the end, its all about Jesus and that is all that really matters.

how are you seeking the Lord today? will you join me in seeking him?