UNDERSTANDING THE NEED TO DISCONNECT

This past two months have been really busy. I'm living one my answered prayers. For a while, i had been hoping for Godly friends that love Jesus for a while and the Lord really answered that prayer this year. He allowed me to see that through allowing this one friend in, i was able to experience His love and favour through these women of God that had a heart for the Lord and desired to serve Him with their whole hearts. It has been the most beautiful things I've experienced. One of the words that I say a lot recently is " I'll check my calendar and get back to you" that is such a blessing. Being surrounded by people that love you like Jesus does and show me how to love them. UNCONDITIONALLY.

If I'm being honest, in full transparency, there are moments it has felt like a lot. I had gotten used to the quietness of being in my room on my off day with the LORD and this was something that if you know my testimony , God tackled in the very beginning. I remember everyone that i knew and was close to just leaving my life. I was allowed to go in a space where only the Lord would have access to me; my quiet and loud moments were all with Him. Coming out  from that space  of isolation and now being surrounded  has definitely been a big shift for me. I wanted to spend time with my new found friends and honestly there's nothing wrong with that but I was getting so caught up in doing all the things that I wasn't spending as much time with the Lord as i was before.

I think of the parable of the 10 virgins, in Matthew 25,  which describes  these 10 virgins who take their oil lamps to meet the bridegroom and how 5 were foolish while the other 5 were wise. The 5 that were wise, take containers full of oil with them for their lamps while the other foolish virgins don't take any oil with them. The bridegroom is late in coming, so the ladies all doze off and fall asleep. Later on at midnight, a cry is rang causing all the ladies to wake up and trim their lamps. The 5 foolish virgins then ask the 5 wise if they could have some of their oil since the re's was running out. The 5 wise recognise that the oil they have is not enough for them and so they refuse to share their oil and point the 5 foolish ones to where they can get more oil to buy from. 

So our  focus will be in Matthew 25:1-10 but before we dive deep let's dissect this text.It will make sense in a while but first, who are the characters in the parable? Well, let's start with the ten virgins. According to Matthew 25 verse 1 in the GNB it says“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins ...."   Ok so now we know the kingdom of heaven is the ten virgins. The kingdom of heaven is anyone that has been brought out of the dark into the light of the Lord so basically the ten virgins are those who have given their lives to Jesus. It later goes to talk about these virgins in the same verse "...who took their oil lamps to meet the bridegroom"

Psalms 119:105 says "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."  

According to this verse, the word of God is the lamp. It provides guidance, wisdom and dispels darkness. So then, who is the bridegroom? Revelation 19 :7 says “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” We've now established that the Lamb is the bridegroom but who exactly is He?  John 1:29 says "The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" So this means that Jesus is the bridegroom. It then talks of how 5 were wise and the other 5 were foolish.  1 Corinthians 3 :19 says' "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness." 5 of the virgins were depending on worldly wisdom and the ways of this world and the other 5 were depending on the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the word in navigating their walk with Christ. 

Now, the  verse that would be our major focus is verse 7 which says“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out."  It's interesting how it talks of trimming their lamp because for oil lamps  if you do not trim the part of the wick that is burnt, the flame can't burn as bright as it needs to and turns smokey. The Lord was revealing to me that in order for me to walk out and see fruit from the prayers i had brought to Him, there was a responsibility and shedding of things that needed to take place.

The oil stands for preparedness and these 5 foolish virgins were thinking they could rely on other believers relationship with the Lord to bring them into salvation. Podcasts, prophetic words, devotionals, books and even Godly friends can definitely be help build us up. This is not to say God can't use them for his glory  but if we are not taking a moment to disconnect in the midst and reconnect with the word of God ,we cannot be prepared in the way He needs us to or have an intimate  relationship with Him. 

I met up with one of my friends this week and I was in awe of the intentionality she has in her walk with the Lord. She would intentionally turn her phone off at certain hours everyday  throughout the week and remove any distractions that would hinder her time with the Lord. She ensures that she is creating an environment to allow the Lord to speak to her and to rest in Him by setting clear boundaries everyday in her schedule and also with her friends.  Matthew 11:28-30 says“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”We can not keep striving for all these "good things" and not chase down the one who gave them to us. When we move in  an understanding that we need to be in constant connection with the source, we will feel rested,sustained and there will be information we are  learning from the Lord because now we are in a partnership.

So how can we disconnect from the busyness of work, friends, family?

• Set boundaries. Throughout our week, we can set aside time whether it is during work or after work just for the Lord and make sure to make these boundaries known to your inner circle or close friends. Do not make plans around the designated time you have decided to meet the Lord.
• Rest.Setting time to just be still and rest from the striving. In Genesis, it talks of how the Lord rested on the  seventh day. God did not need to rest but I believe He wanted to show us the importance of the Sabbath in appreciating t. 
• Understanding your shortcomings. Everyone's relationship with the Lord is different and because of that, there could be certain things the Holy spirit reveals to you that you are struggling with. Once we understand them , we are able to walk in obedience with the Lord. One thing that I have come to an understanding is that the Lord knows better and so the area He wants me to let go of could be doing more harm that good.
  

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father , your word says that every good thing comes from you. Help me honour you by recognizing what you have blessed me with but making sure to be intentional and pursue you as you have pursued me. Do not allow me to glorify the gift over the gift giver. I pray that you would help me earnestly seek you and disconnect from the busyness of my life to reconnect intentionally with you. That i may find rest and perfect peace in you Lord. 

Thank you Jesus

In Jesus' name, Amen.