Focused Time

This past week as part of the prayer week i have been taking some time away from recreational activities at home at the beginning of the day. This includes things like video games and getting online. Instead i have been spending more time in the word, praying, and spending more focused time with family.

I find that whenever i do things like this, it always helps me in my relationship with God and my family. I'm not as distracted by unnecessary crap and tend to be able to focus more on God, family, and resolving my own issues.

In spite of that, so often after these types of fasting times, i always seem to (eventually) go back to my old habits. Then when a time of fasting comes again i dread its coming. It takes a while to really get into it, and i am so resistant to it.

As i have been writing and processing this i have come to two separate conclusions:
1) I see it as a time of fasting. It is something that i see as a limited time thing. I look to the conclusion and don't expect it to be something that lasts. When the time is over and i have an urge to get back into my old habits, there is nothing stopping me. Whereas if my focus instead is, this is what i am going to do, and i will not be returning to my old way of doing things it becomes an issue of a changing a habit / lifestyle instead of a temporary thing. As a result the resolve is to continue.
2) My other thought was that this is a battle of the flesh. I John 2:15-17 says, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." The battle is a desire of the flesh (having "fun" instead of being responsible) that wars for dominance in my life. I go back to these things because they are fun and a distraction instead of being something that takes effort and doesn't lead to more immediate gratification.

So now the issue is, where do i go from here. The time of prayer & fasting is at a close, but should this change in actions end?

Image from Old Shoe Woman used under cc license.

Within Reach... Yet Unreachable

I went for my walk this morning and went past some construction that is being done on a nearby major intersection. As i walked by this morning it looked so desolate; dry, dusty, lifeless, vacant. The businesses that were there looked the same way. Numerous of them were closed, and one of them had sprayed on the window that it was for sale. There was no one there, and it seemed as though nothing worth seeing. Overall, it looked like a small wasteland.

In the construction zone on the other side of the street was a dusty, dirty, old truck. The truck was white with very little writing on it. On the back of the truck in big black letters that said "Water" on it. It struck me that that image very much defines our society, our youth, and our families. It's very desolate. Young people, families, lives, all empty, dry, desolate. All without life. Meanwhile, the very thing needed for life, is just sitting there all bottled up and out of reach of everything. There is such potential, the ground and the world around it is screaming out for it, yet it is unreached / unreachable unless it is released.

This is us. This is our families. This is our towns & cities. This is our country & world. All of these things reaching out, wanting and needing what is sitting there all bottled up within easy reach. Yet it is completely unattainable unless the water is released. So now what?

Now obviously, this is a construction zone, and everything that is going on, the desolation, the dirt, the water truck, all have a reason, and all have a purpose to play. The road will be completed. Hopefully the business and people will return. Life, of sorts, will return at the right time. In the end, that purpose will be played out.

However, the image will stand. The image of the dry & desolate land reaching out for something that is right there within reach, yet completely unreachable. Something that is needed, but that needs only to be released.