Now that I have your attention with pictures of my potty, I’m going to get serious with y’all about our bathroom time today. I want you to think about how much time you spend in that one little room of your house. NO, I am not going to ask you to catalog what all you do in there, especially not some parts, but I am going to ask you to think seriously about the time.
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
making the best use of the time,
because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15&16
What is really the best use of our time? I know the days are evil and they increase in speed as you gain years. It’s almost like they pick up momentum. The KJV phrases this “redeeming the time”, and I love it. Of all the things I want my time to count for redemption is at the top of the list. Redeem literally means “to buy back”. Oh this speaks to my heart because I want to buy back the time! The way to do that, to redeem our time, is to make it count both on earth and in heaven. Prayer takes our time and multiplies it to count both on earth and in heaven. I don’t know a better way to redeem the time. So, to do that we need to buy back our moments. Her is where the bathroom part comes in, wait for it.
We as humans literally spend about 42 minutes a day, 92 days of our lives in the toilet. In addition, we spend on average half of a year of our lives in the shower! Even for those of us who now live in the wonderful world of dry shampoo, that’s still a lot of time! Here’s my suggestion, let’s purposefully redeem that time. I have begun praying in the shower since last year. I pick a person to pray over, sometimes two, while I’m in there. It’s a significant way to love the people in my life. What’s even better is that I realized this little practice is redeeming my own mind. Do you know what most of my thoughts in the shower used to revolve around, drum roll…anxiety! Satan used to take that free time of my mind and roll with it, adding pressure and momentum to my already full days. I am displacing those anxious thoughts for purposeful prayer that blesses me and those I am praying for.
We spend 6 months of our lives sitting at red lights, after you get over the depression of that, why not pray there too! Or play a game as a family and recite scripture every time you stop at a red light. There are literally countless things we do every day, especially while we are waiting, that leave our mind unoccupied. Harness this time! Make it work for you.
I am hoping this is really motivating you to start redeeming your time, so here are some more suggestions; pray for the person whose laundry you are folding, cleaning toilets, ironing (I hear some people actually do that). Your opportunities here are endless. There is so much space for our mind to be occupied with heavenly business.
If it seems overwhelming, don’t let it, that is Satan’s plan to get you to not even try. Practice. Practice just shower time. Put prayer requests on the back of the loo door. Sorry, I have two British friends who are starting to affect me, I’ve been trying for weeks to work the word “Cheeky” into conversation. It hasn’t worked for me. My apologies.
It doesn’t matter where you start, just start. Don’t let Satan rob you of this or kill your hope that you can do something for the people you love by simply renewing your mind while you are doing everyday things. If you roll all that everyday time together, you’ve got a year of your life spent praying, while you are washing your hair!!! Time doesn’t stop, I’m not either. My moments are counting as they are ticking away; I refuse to let them simply pass.
Lauren Mitchell
CHM Contributor
