Do you feel guilty when you don’t have your quiet time? Are you confident and purposeful when you have an excellent, refreshing time in the Word and prayer? How should we view the success or lack of quality in quiet times? No where in the Bible are we commanded to devote 30 minutes each day to a “quiet time” yet we are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength. Tim Chailles has an excellent post about what he calls the Tyranny of Quiet Time and I have to admit that the post is spot on:
Quiet time becomes tyrannical when we understand it as a performance. [Jerry] Bridges provides a pearl of wisdom. “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.” Whether we are having a good day or a bad day, the basis of our relationship with God is not our performance, for even our best efforts are but filthy rags, but grace. Grace does not just save us and then leave us alone. No, grace saves us and then sustains us and equips us and motivates us. We are saved by grace and we then live by grace. Whether in the midst of a good day or bad, God does not base His relationship with us on performance, but on whether or not we are trusting in His Son.
And so now where are we today with our quiet times? Perhaps we are a little too legalistic, or too guilt ridden or too lazy and undisciplined. It’s amazing how our tendency is to always work where grace should reign. It’s something to think and pray about. Certainly, the Lord cares more for your heart and not for the length or duration or frequency of a quiet time. The one who seeks to draw near to the Lord will be empowed by the Spirit. We have but to depend upon His grace.
Adam