30 Day Journey, Days 12-27

I know I've been a little silent on this journey. However, that definitely doesn't mean God hasn't been working. As I wrapped up my final day in my "No Other gods" study by Kelly Minter, God really made it clear to me what He's been doing in the last 27 days. When I began this study eight weeks ago, I didn't put down entertainment as one of my idols. I felt that I spent a relatively small amount of time sitting in front of the TV or reading or whatever. The last two days we spent time in the book of Ruth. In Ruth, we see God's provision and His timing. The future probably looked pretty bleak to Ruth as she set out from Moab with Naomi to Judah. Her husband had died, she had no children, there was no man to provide for them (big deal in those days), she was leaving her family & friends and her gods. She was commited to helping Naomi, though, and she went. Just so happens, on her first day in the barley field, Boaz showed up and went beyond his duty to help her and her family and had the workers leave extra barley behind for her to pick up. At the end of the book, Naomi is able to have an heir through Ruth & Boaz's baby, Obed. Blessed beyond belief! This is surely not what Naomi & Ruth thought they had ahead of them as they left Moab. God did that, and He continues to do this today. He clicks the pieces of the puzzles we call life together to form a beautiful picture of His grace and provision. I was taken aback by Him this morning, as I realized how perfect His timing was in asking me to do this 30 day journey of purity. Maybe I didn't spend much time on entertainment  (because what Mom has time for that, am I right?!), but I was using it as a coping skill, like I've talked about before.  I would stay up reading, because I didn't want to think about my problems. When we did watch TV at night, Ryan & I weren't spending real quality time together. Personally,  some shows and books were desensitizing me to what God's Word calls sin. This all clicked this morning. By setting aside entertainment, I've been able to grieve the anniversary of my mom's death by turning to God. He has brought healing through my tears and through the moments where I am awake at 3:00am and all I can think about is her, so I turn to Him and pray. He has brought me and Ryan closer through card games and conversation and real quality time. He has enabled me to be bold in my beliefs and what He's called me to do and to care less what others think about my choices. God's timing is perfect. I realized today that time spent isn't necessarily the only clue that something is an idol in our lives, and God showed me how removing it and making room for Him has blessed me abundantly - even in this short month! How good and amazing and wonderful is He!