Skimming

Our challenge this week was to find something in my life to decrease so that my God-sized dream may increase. I gave this a lot of thought and was coming up empty until Sunday. (cutting it pretty close!

We have been hearing about Nehemiah, an ordinary guy who heard an extraordinary God and together they did some extaordinary things. In listening to a story I have read, and even studied I thought I had it pretty much down as to what happens next. But the pastor took a turn to tell us just how extraordinary and awesome our God truly is and he quoted Genesis 1:3

³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Well, I was positive I had that down but continued to listen anyway. Then he said something that I was sure was incorrect, He stated that "God just said let there be light and BOOM there was light". Of course there was light, I thought, the sun the stars the moon were there and it was light. So the sermon continued on and the thought wouldn't leave me that perhaps that wasn't quit right. I had to know what day the sun was introduced. As soon as we got home I went to the scripture and read very carefully.

 

Now I am sure that all of you know exactly what I found but after 20 years of reading and rereading the Bible I was stunned!

16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, a

 fourth day.

What? Not until the fourth day were the sun, moon, and stars added to creation! Then what had I been thinking was the light all those years? How had I skimmed over all those words and missed something so important? There was light without any light source but our extraordinary God!

 

I got to thinking, how much else had I misread by my haste in reading God's letters to me? Why am I in such a hurry to read His word? To say I have read it, to hurry on to my day (devotions in the morning), to prove how wonderful I am? What is the rush?

 

I know exactly what to decrease so that my God-sized dream has the time to increase! My need for speed! I will no longer feel the need to read to finish. I will not try to think of what I need to say to keep the conversation going. I will not be in a rush to complete the next task. Hmm, sounds so freeing! No more skimming through life. I will take the time to savor each moment not worrying about the what to do in the next. This is going to take much prayer as a life lived in a hurry is going to be difficult to change. But I have an extraordinary God who is quite able to lead me through this.