THE SPIRITUAL ASPECT – No. 3

Another spiritual milestone that I’ve reached related to my growing physical challenges involves time. Before my diagnosis, I was pretty regular in spending time in prayer and Bible study. Early on I was able to maintain that regularity. As the disease progressed, however, more and more of my time in the day was taken up with practical things which took much longer to complete than before. The result was that my devotional time was squeezed out.

As I began spending less time in personal devotions, I also began feeling quite guilty about it. I spoke about it to one of the elders in our local church, and his counsel was that in God’s grace He sometimes will do more with less. I could see this working out in my life, but I still had a nagging feeling in my heart that I should still be trying to spend an hour every day like I used to do.

The breakthrough came when I heard a quote from a well-known Christian saying something like, ”Rarely do I spend a full hour a day in prayer. But rarely does an hour go by in a day that I don’t spend at least 10 minutes in prayer.” I don’t claim to that constant, but I do agree with the principle that I need to be aware of God’s presence, and my dependence on Him, throughout the day.

I have many 10-15 minute time slots available to me every day. In the early morning when I’m waiting for help to get out of bed; at mealtimes while I’m being fed; each afternoon while I’m receiving a circulation-boosting massage; and at night before I go to sleep I can use the time productively by praying or thinking about a Bible passage that I’ve read.
Nicky once asked me if I’m ever fearful. I can’t say I never get apprehensive about what may lie ahead, but my honest answer now is that most of the time I feel God so near that I can’t be afraid.