Stay Until You Are Radiant

How do you know when to stop? To leave?
When is it time to move on to the next thing?
Do you proactively dictate a time limit for activities in advance? 

• "I'll do household chores today from 12:15pm  to 1pm." 
• "I am not going to stay at work past 5:00pm." 
• "I will work at this entry level job for two years and then move on if I'm not promoted."
• "I'm going to read my Bible for 15 minutes each morning and then pray for 5 minutes."
• "I'll run on the treadmill for 30 minutes, three times each week."

I once had a work colleague from South America who was appalled when he came to the United States and received his first party invitation which gave not only a start time for the party, but also an END TIME.  He scoffed at this - "No one dictates when a party ends. It ends when it ends," he said. In his culture, celebrations were expected to go on until the celebratory vibe had naturally waned.

What are you missing out on by stopping when you stop? 
On the other hand, are you missing out on something by not stopping sooner than you planned? 
How do you know when it is time to stop? To go?

This morning I watched a video of Louie Giglio teaching session 6 of his study series, "Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table."  During the session, he read Psalm 34:5, "Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." I asked myself, "What would it look like if I didn't start the public part of my day until my face was radiant from a private encounter with God?" What if I spent time each morning communing with God (thru the Bible, thru prayer and meditation, thru music, and/or thru time in nature, etc.) and I didn't stop until I was radiant and shame-free? What would that look like? Maybe some mornings it would happen in a matter of minutes before I ever got out of bed. Maybe other days it would take an hour or more for my brain, body and spirit to receive what was needed. 

In Exodus 34:29, Moses had just spent 40 days and 40 nights on Mt. Sinai in the presence of God.  It says, "When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord." Moses was on a mission, a God-given mission, and he didn't even realize that in the process of receiving the Law he himself had been changed in such a way that it was obvious (and even unnerving) to the people, so much so that he had to cover the radiance of his face. Meanwhile, in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians 3:17-18, we read, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Being organized and proactive and using my time wisely is not without merit, but when I start to do so as a means of being in control (being the god of my own life), I've ceased to be wise. 

James 4:13-15, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'"

We know it is God's will to transform us into His image, so maybe, just maybe, we don't presume to set the time frame for him to do what is needed for His glory to increase in us each day? Maybe we awake and gaze upon Him, and submit to Him and stay in His presence until we are radiant and shame-free, and maybe we accept that that process will take however short or long it takes, admitting that we aren't in control... rather, we are in relationship.