Anyone who has ever taken a group of teenagers into a public building with more than one floor has witnessed the fascination teenagers have with escalators -specifically, their fascination with attempting to go up the escalator the wrong way. There’s something about the challenge of trying to beat the escalator at its own game that is irresistible to mischievous teenagers with excess energy to burn.
On more than one occasion, I’ve observed with embarrassment as teenagers scramble awkwardly up the escalator causing escalatorial rule followers to dodge flying limbs in an attempt to make it down in one piece.
In a few short days, I’ll be at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida for General Council and the National Youth Convention/Fine Arts Festival. Undoubtedly, the escalators will shut down and require maintenance at some point during the week due, in part, to this phenomenon. It turns out that escalators weren’t designed for this function.
However, this uphill climb compounded by the constant downward motion of the escalator seems to have some similarities to our relationship with God. There are times when our walk with God can feel more like a climb. And if we stop moving forward, we’ll lose ground.
As leaders, there are many times when it feels like our personal time with God isn’t as personal or quiet as we’d like it to be. It can turn into another task to accomplish before we start our day or it’s shoved to the end of the day when we’re so tired we can hardly keep our eyes open. Sometimes, the only time we spend praying or studying is really sermon or lesson preparation.
Our time with God wasn’t meant to move us forward in our ministry, get us on God’s “good side,” or even to empower us to impart wisdom to our students. The sole purpose of our time with God is to refocus our eyes, readjust our attitude, realign our hearts, and reconnect with God. When we commit to take time to do this, He is faithful to meet us there.
Matthew 6:6 (NIV) says “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
A friend recently recommended a great writing by Andrew Murray on this subject. Murray asserts that our personal time with God is incredibly important, arguing that “Next to receiving Christ as our Savior, and claiming the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we know of no act attended with larger good to ourselves, or to others than the formation of an undiscourageable resolution to keep the morning watch.”
Moving upward is so much simpler when we recognize the intended purpose of the escalator and use it correctly.