Making God Our Foundation

Last we spoke, dear readers, we spoke about prioritizing God. How we have to make Him the foundation to our daily lives in order to build upon that foundation for a healthy relationship in Him!

Now, that seems like a no brainer, right? We shouldn’t get married to a man that we know very little about. We shouldn’t pledge eternity when we don’t have a relationship to build on to.

In that same vein, God wants us to know Him and celebrate our relationship with Him in everything we do. We have to shift our placement of God from this illusive thing we have to somehow reach, and instead focus on how He is the only reason we can live life according to His will. So let’s talk about what that looks like.

Step One: Know Your Place

First and foremost, we are children made in the image of God.

I heard a lovely analogy, and if any of you know who made it, let me know in the comments. The thought process is simple: you have a glove. A glove is made perfectly in the image of a hand. A front, a back, five fingers. Now, the glove is made to protect our hands. Without a hand in the glove, it’s useless. There’s no point in it. But once it has a hand inside of it, it’s fulfilling its purpose.

In the same way, we were made in the image of God. Only by allowing Him inside of us and allowing Him to use us, are we fulfilling our purpose.

Our purpose isn’t our jobs, or our friendships. Our purpose isn’t even to our family. It’s God. Always. 

It’s hard to tell the difference though, at least for me. My husband is my best friend. I want to do things for him, and honestly, I find myself shaping my entire world around him, but he will never fulfill me like God does. He will never be my purpose in life, and if I shape my entire identity around him, I will always be disappointed.

The same with kids and employment! While discipling our kids is a job that we have been gifted by God, we will never be fulfilled by this, or even by how well we do at work. 

When we get to heaven, God isn’t going to say “wow, you were such a great mom, welcome in!” or “man, those eighty hour weeks that you put in for your job really made you valuable here!” 

God made it clear what’s important to Him, and that is Knowledge of Him. It’s choosing daily to lean wholly and fully into Him.

Step Two: Focus on God Daily

Making God our foundation for the day starts with taking restrictions off of our time with Him.

Who here is guilty of reading your Bible at a certain time, praying at a certain time, and not again during the day? I definitely am! I read my Bible in the morning when I feed my baby, and I pray while I’m in the car. Unless something is going wrong, or I forget one of these “appointments” with God, I don’t usually deter from this.

It’s hard, but part of prioritizing God is un-designating our time with Him! I challenge you, readers, to set an alarm on your phone for every hour on the hour, and do a quick prayer. Just thank God for the amazingness that He has done and let Him know anything you’re thinking about. It doesn’t have to be poetic or lovely. It’s just a reminder to focus on Him.

We can use this to seek God’s wisdom throughout the day, too. I’m the queen of jumping into things without thinking, and without fail, I usually think to myself “man, I wish I had thought of THIS” whether “this” is the time sink or the misunderstanding of the situation, I usually wish I had better wisdom before saying yes.

Seeking God’s wisdom in the little and big decisions throughout the day, we are suddenly aligning ourselves with His will for every single step.

A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps. (Proverbs 16:9 CSB)

Adding to this new mindset, when we align our actions throughout the day to Him, we can start to see our responsibilities as acts of worship. We can worship Him through the dishes and commutes. We can be thankful for the newest load of laundry, or that one person that makes work a little more difficult, because suddenly our day isn’t about us; it’s about God.

Step Three: Remember God’s Word

I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. (Psalm 199:11 CSB)

This is the very first piece of scripture I memorized. I challenge you to memorize it, too. We don't read God’s word so that we can say we did. This isn’t an item on our to-do list that should be checked off when we can get to it. Rather, it should be something we go to with nothing else on the agenda.

I’m guilty of it, but rushing through our time in God’s Word isn’t allowing us to meditate on it. Instead, it’s allowing us to diminish His presence in our day. 

When we focus on the scripture when we read it, and really start to treasure it in our hearts, it becomes something we think about during the day. Reading the scripture and then immediately forgetting what it said is definitely not doing this, so how do we change this?

Give yourself at least an hour. I doubt you’ll ever need it, but if you have to leave in twenty minutes, you’ll be more focused on the time instead of what’s being said. 

Summarize what you read in a sentence. Whether that’s reading through the scripture and finding the one verse that summarizes what’s going on best, or writing your own, it helps to retain the information!

Allow the scripture to lead you in prayer. Pray about what you read and see how that impacts your day. You might be surprised by the wisdom you can glean from First and Second Kings!

Step Four: Do Everything for Him

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17 CSB)

Instead of trying to cram God into a world shaped box, remember Him in everything we do! In our words and actions at work, home, church. It’s easier said than done, but when our actions are for God solely, we don’t risk accidentally creating idols. We don’t risk allowing our hearts to honor others over God.

This isn’t easy! It’s a conscious effort. Something we have to think about constantly throughout the day. But, with steps one through three, it becomes a little easier.

And this is how we prioritize God!

When we prioritize God as our foundation, we agree to build our lives on Him. We trust that He will provide, guide, and sustain us. Not our own actions. Not the actions of the people around us.

We are no longer driven by worry or fear, but instead by our faith in Him and confidence in His plan. As our world seems to get crazier by the second, isn’t this a beautiful gift?