Daily Absence

 Imagine that your elderly mother's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks and you have the bright idea to plan a surprise birthday party for her. Within minutes, your brain is whirring with to-do lists and plans. You sit down the first chance you get and make a list of guests. Over the next few days you are super busy as you begin squeezing in the party planning along with all your regular activities. You realize you haven't talked to your mom in several days, which is unusual, but you brush that guilt aside because you are busy. You are SO excited and it will be great to spend the day with her on her birthday-- besides you are horrible at keeping a secret and don't want to say anything to ruin the surprise.

Two weeks fly right by and the house is decorated to perfection. Guests start to arrive, and you feel nervous butterflies in your stomach because you want so badly to please your mom and make this day a success. As people start to mingle, you just can't shake the feeling that you forgot something, and it starts to gnaw at you. Within a couple of minutes you realize what the problem is...you forgot to invite your mother. 

The guest of honor isn't there! Embarrassed and guilty, you make excuses and justify how busy you were. Surely you aren't the only one who would have done all of this and forgotten the most important thing. The guests are having a great time. You notice the cheese platter is empty, and before you think about it again, you are back to being a good hostess. As the party winds down, people trickle out and you start the process of cleaning up the party aftermath so you can be ready to get to work tomorrow morning. Just before you head to bed, you call your mom to say "Happy birthday! I love you. Talk to you later. I am very tired. I had a busy day," and hang up the phone just before you drift off to sleep.

Does this all sound ridiculous? Impossible even? I would hope so, yet I fear many of us live our lives just like this when it comes to God. I heard the term "Functional Atheism" many years ago, and it has always stuck in my head. We live busy, independent lives. We go through our day with very little (if any) thought of God, His Word, or prayer. We get things done, run around completing our to-do lists, serving others in God's name, and yet fail to actually include the guest of honor in any of our plans. Basically, we live functionally as though we are atheists, simply planning and doing the tasks we need to do.

Oftentimes I lift my head from a project I have been engrossed in, maybe even frustrated with, and realize that I haven't bothered to pray and ask God for wisdom. In fact, I never even bothered to ask if the task is something I should be doing at all. I lay down to sleep at night, and the thought pops into my head that I should pray, because I "forgot" again today, or didn't have time, only to wake up in the morning and have only a brief memory of a few sentences uttered before I was sound asleep.   When this happens do I spend my morning in prayer? No, to my own shame I do not, but instead I get up and hit the ground running. After all, the dog needs to go out and I am hungry and there is a lot on my to-do list today!

We tend to be driven to God in prayer when bad things happen, and our daily lives are disrupted. The war in Ukraine has been that driver for me the last few days, as reading stories from the people there and seeing the devastation has reminded me how much we need God to intervene. I started to think about those words again: Functional Atheism. Why do I struggle so to be faithful in prayer? God forgive me! I am utterly and completely dependent upon Him for life, light, faith, breath, and, well, EVERYTHING! Yet I continue to rush ahead in my own strength to do all the "good things" I think I should be doing, and all the busy days just keep flying by. May we all be more fully aware of our need for Him. May He graciously increase our desire to spend time with Him, causing us to trust Him more fully.

Until Next Time~

Shari