Let's Joust! - Girlfriends in God

August 6, 2015
Let's Joust!
Sharon Jaynes

Today’s Truth

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation (Psalm 5:3-4 NIV 1984 ed.).

Friend to Friend

Many years ago, my husband and I built a house that would be our home for the next twenty years. While the builders were hammering away, I was sewing away, trying to have all the curtains made before we moved in.

The fabric for the curtains came on five-foot long cardboard tubes. For one year, those tubes were my two-year-old son's favorite toys. They served as tunnels for Matchbox cars and giant megaphones from which all sorts of important announcements were made. But his favorite thing to do with the tubes was "joust" (sword fight). Every day when my husband came home from work, Steven greeted him by shouting, "Let's joust, Daddy!" My husband jousted tirelessly for months.

Nine years later, in a conversation remembering the jousting days, Steven confessed, "You know, I used to have terrible nightmares about those huge cardboard tubes. I used to dream that giant ‘jousting rods’ were chasing me all around the house trying to get me."

Baffled, I asked him, "Why didn't you tell us about the dreams? And why did you want to continue playing with the tubes if they gave you bad dreams?"

"I guess it was because I loved Dad so much and playing the game with him, that it was worth having the scary dreams,” he answered.

Little did Steven know what a profound statement he had made. My thoughts immediately went to my heavenly Father, my love for Him, and what I was willing to endure to spend time with Him. A house that is not as clean as I would like. A to-do list that doesn’t have everything checked off. A television program that isn’t important anyway.

In this busy world in which we live, taking time out to be with our Heavenly Father can be somewhat of a struggle, but the rewards are so great. So every morning, I grab my jousting rod, God's Word, and together we conquer foes and win battles side-by-side.

I am so grateful that you took the time to spend time with your Heavenly Father today…and so is He

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, help me put all my busyness aside to spend time with You each day. I pray that my love for You will supersede any other activity that I have planned on any given day. Thank You for wanting to spend time with me.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you given up lately to develop your relationship with God?

Is your relationship with God something you feel that you “have” to do, or something you “get” to do?

What are you willing to put aside to develop your relationship with God?

More from the Girlfriends

Don’t you love reading stories of God’s fingerprints on the pages of everyday life? My book, Listening to God Day by Day is a storehouse of 100 of my favorite devotional stories all in one collection. Some stories will make you laugh. Some stories will make you cry. And each story will point you to God and strengthen your relationship with Him.