I’ve heard it said that the average person makes 35,000 decisions in a single day! Many of these decisions don’t impact others. Whether we choose ham or turkey for lunch or the blue pants instead of the green pants won’t change tomorrow or anybody else. However, many of our decisions do impact others daily. The way we treat ourselves, our families, our co-workers, and the strangers we encounter may alter the way they treat others. Our example of godly (or ungodly) living will influence those around us. The choices are ours.
Recalibrating is all about change and adjustment. It occurred to me that just as the sensor lights in my car indicate a problem in its internal workings, my conduct can also indicate a need for change in the internal workings of my heart.
Let’s take this analogy a bit further. Consider your car and its need for gasoline. Running out of gas will render your car useless just as failure to eat renders us unproductive. What about our spiritual needs? Have you ever been particularly grouchy only to realize that it’s been over a week since you have feasted on God’s Word? When we don’t fuel up, we run on empty. When we try to live without God, we fall flat on our faces.
Sometimes we go through the motions of spending time with God, but our heart isn’t really connected to Him. We read a devotional or practice a verse we learned in childhood and say to ourselves, “I can mark ‘time with God’ off my list for today.” In doing this, though, we miss out on true connection with God. Therefore, we also miss out on what God wanted to do within us.
Do you ever get in a rut in your Quiet Time? I often fall into a pattern of “quiet time” without noticing and then realize that a small change or a couple tweaks can rejuvenate my heart and my walk with God.
Try the 3-5-5-5 challenge. This printable contains 15 ways to connect with God. Pick 3 per day and do each one for 5 minutes. See if you don’t find yourself walking closer to that for which He designed you. When we draw near to God, He promises to draw near to us, and when God draws near, big changes are bound to happen! https://deniseprosser.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/recalibrate-quiet-printable.pdf
What we do impacts who we become, and who we are determines what we do. Consequently, when we recalibrate (adjust) one, we automatically change the other. We make a difference in the world by changing who we are. When we let God change us, we can make a bigger difference in the world around us.
You see, it isn’t that we need to invite God into our lives. If we are believers, He is already there, bigger than life! He is in us, and we are in Him. It isn’t even that we need to ask Him to walk beside us. He already is! WE need to choose to walk with HIM! Just this week, I had a vision of our walk with God being like a magnet that draws us so close to His side that we can’t be separated unless we choose to walk away from Him.
I just started reading The Monday Morning Christian by Howard Partridge. In this book, he quotes Henry Blackaby who said, “Find out what God is doing, and join Him there.”
It was what Mr. Partridge said next that really undid me. He asked the reader three questions: What is God doing in your business? What is God doing in your community? What is God doing in your industry?
My mind was racing, and simultaneously stuck on the word “there.” I’m often overwhelmed by all the facets living in this world. Suddenly, it hit me how many “theres” are in this life! What is God doing in my heart? My mind? My work? My giftings? My painful past? My trials? My victories?
It all goes back to paying attention to what we pay attention to; to being mindful of what we’re mindful of. It was an amazing revelation to me that God wants to be right in the center of EVERY AREA of my life. He’s just waiting for me to meet Him where He already is! Then, when I’m as close to Him as if drawn there by a magnet, He will change me as only He can!
Here is an encouraging printable list for you to use as a springboard. Take the time to be silent before Him and to ask Him, one area at a time, what He is doing in this area. Wait for His response. When you hear His answer, choose to intentionally partner with Him in that work. https://deniseprosser.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/recal-efforts-printable.pdf
Jesus, thank you for being willing and able to change me. Thank you for waiting on me to join you. Help me seek you, hear you, and obey you as we partner in this work. Help me allow you to recalibrate various areas of my life that, together, we might draw this world closer to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.