The Dailies – Those things we do each day that help us access the knowledge and power needed to do God’s will are sometimes referred to in addiction recovery, as The Dailies. As I was raising my children I encouraged them to make such things as prayer, scripture study, and journal keeping a part of their daily routine, hoping they might form a habit in their youth that would bless them in the future. My kids used to play a game with me in regard to their own dailies, especially in the summer time. In the late evening, after they were tired from a day of fun in the sun, I would say, “It’s quiet reading time (time to read a book, read scripture, write in a journal, and pray).” Often the reply was, “Oh, I want to do those things in the morning.” The response to my morning re-invitation was the desperate plea for play now and the very sincere promise to read and write later. “Please, please mom! I promise I’ll do it tonight!”
It wasn’t too many days into the summer or into the years of motherhood before I became wise to this particular dance with integrity. After this pattern was repeated morning and evening for a few days and the evidence was clear, I would confront the children with their self-deception. Then I would to try to help them see that they were only fooling themselves, and that this time with the Lord was not something to avoid because great blessings would come into their daily lives as a result of consistent connection with God through study and prayer.
The Lord brought this little piece of family history to my remembrance just this week. I was battling in my mind over the fact that I had slept through the time I have committed to the dailies. I had once again stayed in bed and said to myself (the prideful name I use for God when I want to imagine that He is out and about and not listening), “I’ll pray and study later.” And about midday when life crowded in on my weak commitment to later, I imagined how I might possibly conclude the evening with devotion to and communication with my Heavenly Father and His Son. But alas, with the setting of the sun, weariness overtook me, and I became full of resolve for early morning “quiet study time.”
Somewhere in the middle of this delusional cycle the Lord used the vision of the past parent/ child experience to convict His own little girl (me). I guess He felt that the pattern had been repeated morning and evening long enough and that the evidence was clear, so He confronted me with my own self-deception. He is obviously not fooled. I believe he is very aware of my pitiful lack of integrity.
I don’t want to play this game with the Lord any more. I can’t imagine saying to Him, day after dishonest day, “We’ll talk in the morning.” And then when morning comes, “Hey, how about we try to connect tonight.” But that’s exactly what I do! I will never be the winner of this game of self-deceit. Prayer, prayerful scripture study, and making a record of the impressions that come through His Spirit are gifts of communication from Him to me. He is the prize I avoid. Relationship with Him is the reward I run from. To win is to connect every day all day by coming unto Him through the dailies.
By Nannette W.
Written Thursday, February 8, 2007
Posted Saturday, August 2, 2008
Copyright 2008 by Nannette W. All right reserved.
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