How to Keep God First in a Busy Season -

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There are certain seasons of life that seem to move at a pace all their own. The alarm clock goes off before the sun comes up, lunches have to be packed, laundry piles up, children need attention, work demands your focus, dinner has to make its way to the table, and before you know it, the day is over. You finally crawl into bed exhausted, only to wake up and do it all again tomorrow. And somewhere in the middle of all that noise, you wonder how you’re supposed to keep God first when you can barely find a moment to catch your breath.

If you’ve ever wondered how to keep God first in a busy season, I want you to know you’re not alone.

In fact, I think many Christian women carry around a quiet guilt that no one really talks about. We know how important it is to spend time with the Lord. We know the value of prayer and being in His Word. We know we should make time for Him. Yet when life gets loud and everyone seems to need something from us, it can feel impossible to find even a few uninterrupted minutes to breathe, let alone sit quietly with an open Bible and a cup of coffee.

I know that feeling because I’ve lived it.

When Life Gets Busy, It Can Be Hard to Keep God First

When my children were little, I found it incredibly difficult to find time to study God’s Word or have the kind of deep prayer life I longed for. At the time, I worked a full-time job while trying to juggle the responsibilities of being a wife, a mom, and serving in ministry. Thankfully, the Lord saw fit to place seven years between my children, but even with that blessing, those years were full.

No one really warned me about that season.

No one told me there would be days when I would feel needed from every direction at once. No one mentioned that there would be times when I would struggle to find a quiet moment to sit in God’s presence because there was always another meal to cook, another load of laundry to fold, another child to comfort, or another place I had to be.

So many mornings I found myself rushing out the door, trying to make sure everyone had what they needed and arrived where they were supposed to be on time. More often than not, my prayer time happened in the car while my kids slept in the backseat. I would drive to work with tears streaming down my face, talking to the Lord about whatever burden I was carrying that day. There were days when worship music filled my car because it was the only quiet place I could find to be alone with Him.

And if I’m honest, I felt guilty.

I knew the importance of taking time alone with God. I knew what I wanted my devotional life to look like, but my reality looked very different. By the time the day ended, I often felt like I was giving God the last little bit of energy I had left. Many nights, I would fall into bed completely exhausted and whisper a prayer under my breath, asking the Lord to forgive me because I felt like I hadn’t given Him enough.

Oh, how I desired to be in His presence. I wanted those quiet moments with my Bible open and my heart still before the Lord. I wanted to linger in prayer without watching the clock or listening for a child to wake up. Even going to church could feel overwhelming during those years. Instead of soaking in the message, I was making sure someone had a snack, keeping a little one occupied, or quietly trying to prevent a meltdown in the middle of service. I would leave some Sundays wondering why I had even gone because I couldn’t remember half of what had been preached.

But I kept going.

I kept praying.

I kept showing up.

What It Really Means to Keep God First

Looking back now, I realize I had a picture in my mind of what spending time with God was supposed to look like.

I imagined long, uninterrupted devotion times, a quiet house, and a peaceful place where I could sit with my Bible open and hear from the Lord. There is absolutely nothing wrong with those moments. In fact, I still treasure them. Even now, I love waking up before the rest of the house begins to stir just so I can sit quietly in His presence.

But during those busy years, God was teaching me something I couldn’t yet see.

Keeping God first wasn’t always going to look perfect.

Sometimes it looked like worship music playing while I stirred supper on the stove. Sometimes it looked like praising God while I folded another basket of laundry. Sometimes it was tears falling while I drove to work or a quiet conversation with the Lord while the kids slept in the backseat. Sometimes it was simply choosing to turn my thoughts toward Him in the middle of an ordinary Tuesday.

I wasn’t trying to fit God into my schedule.

I was trying to build my schedule around a relationship that mattered more than anything else.

That doesn’t mean I stopped longing for deeper moments with Him. In fact, there were many mornings when I intentionally woke up an hour before everyone else because I craved that time with the Lord. I wasn’t looking for perfection; I was looking for His presence. I’ve learned that there are seasons when uninterrupted time comes more easily than others, but the answer isn’t to wait until life slows down. The answer is to intentionally make room for God right where you are.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:33:

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

He didn’t say to seek Him first only when the children are older, when work settles down, or when life finally becomes manageable. He simply said to seek Him first.

The Enemy Loves to Whisper Guilt

I think one of the greatest struggles during busy seasons isn’t the schedule itself. It’s the guilt that often comes with it.

The enemy has a way of convincing us that if our quiet time doesn’t look exactly the way we imagined it should, then it doesn’t count. He tells us that because our prayers are whispered while we’re washing dishes or driving down the road, they somehow matter less. He whispers that if we miss a day or two because life happened, then we’ve somehow failed.

But I’ve come to believe that God sees those moments very differently.

He saw me crying and praying in the car.

He saw me standing in the kitchen worshipping while supper cooked on the stove.

He heard the exhausted prayers I whispered before I drifted off to sleep.

He knew about the mornings I dragged myself out of bed early because I simply wanted to spend a little time with Him before the house woke up. He saw the desire that was hidden beneath the exhaustion. He knew my heart, even when I felt like I was falling short.

Psalm 46:10 says,

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

For years, I thought being still meant everything around me had to be quiet. But sometimes being still simply means quieting our hearts in the middle of the noise. Sometimes it means shutting off the distractions for a few moments and remembering that God is near, even if the laundry still needs folding and supper still needs to be made.

Your Children Are Watching How You Keep God First

One of the sweetest lessons God has taught me is that those imperfect moments were never wasted.

When my children were little, I often felt like I wasn’t giving them enough either. I worried that they weren’t seeing the kind of spiritual life I wanted to model because everything felt rushed and interrupted. I wondered if they would remember anything besides a tired mom trying to keep all the pieces together.

But children have a way of seeing what we don’t realize they’re seeing.

They watched me pray.

They came with me to the altar.

They listened while worship music filled our home.

They saw tears fall while I talked to Jesus.

They watched me choose Him over and over again, even when I felt like I was failing.

I can remember leading worship at our home missions church when my daughter was little. Her dad would be out praying with people while I sat at the piano, and she would be right there beside me because I didn’t have anyone else to watch her. At first, she simply sat and observed. As she got older, she began singing at the top of her lungs right there beside me.

Today, she helps lead worship in our church.

She loves to sing. She loves to worship. And I can’t help but think back to those little moments when I wondered if any of it mattered.

Recently, my son surprised me too. I was getting ready for worship practice and sat down to play through a song before everyone arrived. He asked if he could get on the drums. I smiled and told him that was fine, just don’t beat on them too hard. I fully expected him to make up his own little rhythm while I practiced.

Instead, he quietly started playing along with me.

And now, when the Spirit of God begins to move in service, I watch him. He’s still learning. He’s still growing. But I can see him responding. I can see a hunger beginning to stir in his heart, and it reminds me that those little moments mattered more than I ever realized.

In those moments, I realize something that I couldn’t see years ago.

While I thought I was failing because life was loud and messy, God was quietly planting seeds.

How to Keep God First When Life Gets Busy

I don’t want to minimize the importance of making intentional time for the Lord because I believe it matters deeply. In fact, I think one of the greatest acts of faith during a busy season is choosing to make room for Him anyway.

Sometimes that means waking up before the rest of the house.

Sometimes it means leaving the dishes in the sink for a little while longer.

Sometimes it means shutting off the noise, putting down the phone, or choosing worship music over another distraction.

And sometimes it means recognizing that today’s devotion time may happen while you’re folding clothes, rocking a baby, or driving to work.

The point isn’t perfection.

The point is pursuit.

God honors a heart that seeks Him. He honors the mom who gets up a little earlier because she wants to spend time with Him. He honors the whispered prayer in the middle of a chaotic afternoon. He honors the worship that rises from a kitchen where dinner is still cooking.

The beautiful thing about God is that He is willing to meet us right where we are.

Keep Seeking Him First

If you’re in one of those busy seasons right now, I want to encourage you not to believe the lie that you’re failing because your quiet time doesn’t look like someone else’s.

Don’t wait for the perfect schedule.

Don’t wait for life to slow down.

And don’t wait for the children to get older before you make room for God.

Bring them with you. Let them see you pray. Let them hear you sing. Let them watch you worship while you’re making dinner or folding laundry. Let them stand beside you at the altar. Let them see a mom who loves Jesus enough to intentionally make time for Him, even when life feels overwhelming.

They may not understand everything that’s happening in those moments, but little by little they are learning what it looks like to build a life centered around Christ. Long before they understand every Bible story or every sermon, they are watching your example. They are learning that when life gets hard, we pray. When our hearts are full, we worship. When we don’t have all the answers, we keep seeking God anyway.

One day, you’ll look back and realize that God was meeting you in the kitchen, in the car, at the altar, and in those whispered prayers before sleep. And you may discover, just like I did, that the little eyes watching you all those years were learning far more than you ever imagined.

Looking back now, I don’t see a season where I failed to spend enough time with God.

I see a faithful God who met me in the middle of a busy season and taught me what it really means to keep God first.

Keep Exploring Makin’ Macon

If this post encouraged you, I’d love for you to take a look around. Here at Makin’ Macon, you’ll find faith-filled encouragement, practical homemaking inspiration, recipes, podcast episodes, and simple reminders that God is with us even in the middle of life’s busiest seasons.

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