My first response was patience. God wanted to teach me patience. I have been in this place before with patience, waiting on a response from God, but this was different. He said, "Allison, be patient." Ok, I'll be patient. Traffic is the least of my worries. I can be patient. I teach Kindergarteners. I can be patient. I am carrying a baby for nine months. I can be patient. Patience? Check. I got it.

Later that evening, I continued to pray. I still felt like there was something God was trying to teach me and I had not quite figured it out (you know that feeling when something just feels off). So I got on my knees and cried out to God, "Lord, what is it? I know I need patience, what else is it?" He brought into my thoughts an element related to patience: time.

Time is not my own, it belongs to Him. I have filled my time with things that I deem important. Even if I think those things are in service to Him, I am going through the motions, filling the time, where I should be filling it with Him. He needs to be in all the activities that engage my time. My activities should not consume me, but I should be consumed by Him at all times. I had lost focus of this. I was doing things that He had blessed me to do and opened doors for, but I had lost focus of my reason and heart in the matter. I had lost focus on Him and started focusing on my activities. They (and time) had become an idol.

It led me to think of the Israelites in beginning of Isaiah. Even though they had known God, they had turned to themselves, become calloused and smug, worshipped idols, and brought meaningless offerings before the Lord. I had brought a meaningless offering of time and service before the Lord and He was clear about how He felt and His judgment for those who continued on that path. I was just like the Israelites.

In the same chapters, He reminded me of the promise of restoration and hope for those that repent and follow Him. He promises that our sins will be made white as snow, He will remove our iniquities, we will know Him, and walk in His light (Isaiah 1:5, 1:25, & 2:5). So even though I may have felt like the Israelites, I don't have to stay in that place. Instead of going through the motions and filling my life with meaningless sacrifices and obligations, I can change my acts of worship and commit my time to the Lord.