God

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A No-Hurry Day

I’m having a “no-hurry” day today. That means I didn’t jump out of bed the minute I woke up. I stayed still for ten minutes saying good morning to God.

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“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty.” – Psalm 91:1

Then, as I begin my day, I resolve to

  • Drive in the right-hand lane.
  • Walk at a relaxed pace.
  • Read instead of scan.
  • Speak more slowly.
  • Taste my food.
  • Wait in line without fidgeting.
  • Avoid multi-tasking.

A no-hurry day allows God to speak peace to my soul. It’s OK to slow down sometimes, to not take control of every situation, to let others lead, and to yield every moment, every task, and every relationship to God’s oversight. Try it. You may be surprised at how little time you lose by not hurrying and at how much more fun you have along the way.

“When the soul is understood and attended to, we can be liberated from hurry, preoccupation, unsatisfied desires, and chronic discontent”.  – John Ortberg

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Overwhelmed?

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me." - Micah 7:7

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” – Micah 7:7

“They do not cry to Me from their hearts, but they wail upon their beds.” (Hosea 7:14)

Can we relate to God’s people in this verse? They had allowed their desperation to throw them into a downward emotional spiral and there seemed no way out. It happens to all of us at times. But we don’t have to stay there.

Do you see the alternative God gives? He invites us to cry to Him from our hearts. How do we do that? We get out of our beds, move intentionally into His presence, look at Him, pause, and realize who He is. Then, we are ready for heartfelt prayer. When the focus is on Him and not on us, we turn our situation over to the One who loves us completely and the only One who can actually do something about the problems we face.

Then, over time, we find the Holy Spirit makes a great exchange for us.

  • He takes our anxiety and gives us peace.
  • He takes our self-pity and gives us trust.
  • He takes our desperation and gives us hope.

We get to choose: Wailing? Or honest prayer? God is waiting at this very moment to hear the cries of our heart.

“God wants to completely fill you and unite Himself to you. Let the vain, complaining babble of self-love be silenced so that in the stillness of the heart you may listen to the love of God.” – Francois de Fenelon

 

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Being Still

"Do everything with the awareness that you are acting before God and for His sake. At the sight of God's majesty, calmness and well-being should fill your spirit." - Fenelon

“At the sight of God’s majesty, calmness and well-being should fill your spirit.” -Francois de Fenelon

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Have you ever tried being still? It’s hard to do! When I was talking to God about that one day, it felt like He was telling me that I was going at it backwards: I was trying to be still so I could know Him. He wants me to know Him so I can be still.

“When you know that I am God, you will be still.

Behold Me. Look at Me. See Me for who I am.

You will find I am much, infinitely much, bigger than finances, accidents, cancer, relationships with toxic people, or any other problem you face.

I am God. Just stop for a few minutes and think about who I am. Being still is the only possible response to My glory.”

It seems that the secret of being still in God’s presence is beginning to understand who He really is. When we stop to view Him with amazement and wonder; when we accept the mystery of what we do not know of Him; and when we begin to glimpse His holiness, power, and love, the issues of our lives fade away and awed stillness is our only possible reaction.

Try changing your focus from your restlessness to God’s greatness and see what happens. It helps me a lot!

“Collect yourself in His presence with the one purpose and intent of loving Him.” – Michael Molinos

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Pennies on the Path

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“I cannot cause light. The most I can do is to put myself in the path of its beam.”                                    – Annie Dillard

I had an uncle who lived at the other end of a well-worn path between my Grandmother’s house and his. When he knew the grandchildren were coming to visit, he showed up at Grandma’s door, too. Then he would invite one of us to walk with him on the path to his house. As we walked, we were amazed to find pennies all along the way. Even when I became a young adult and Uncle Walt was gone, I couldn’t resist looking for pennies when I walked that path!

I believe God has taken great delight in putting “pennies” on the path we will walk today. One author calls God’s sometimes unnoticed gifts as “small joys and pieces of beauty”. How many of them do we miss because we are not paying attention? We are watching our feet or worried about the obstacles ahead and missing God’s little gifts along the way.

As we enter this new year, let’s have enough faith in our loving heavenly Father to believe that He has “small joys and pieces of beauty” for us every single day. Then, let’s remember to look for them. If we do, 2016 will be a year filled with surprises, smiles, and praise. Personally, I can’t wait to see what’s next on the path!

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.” (Psalm 23:6a NIV)

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Thin Places

"Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it." - Genesis 28:16b

“Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.” – Genesis 28:16b

There are places on this planet, where the separation between heaven and earth seems very thin and, in those places, it is said that you can hear God more clearly and feel God more closely than anywhere else. Some see the mountains as thin places, where the peaks reach toward heaven and the majesty of God is revealed. Certain traditions have recognized thin places where people have met God powerfully through the ages. Retreat centers, churches, and monasteries often are cited.

I believe that we can create our own thin places:  For one of my friends, it was her daily hour-long walk where she could talk to God without interruption. For another, it was under the stairs in her home, and another tells me she has her best sense of Jesus’ presence on her backyard deck. For me, it is the couch downstairs where I can open the blinds and wait for the dawn as I read His Word and listen for His voice.

We all need a place where we can go to meet God, leaving everything else behind so, without distraction, we can connect with our Creator. Of course, we can meet Him anywhere along life’s path (and we do!), but for those of us who have been on the journey for awhile, we find there are sacred spots where God seems to break through with ease. Do you have a place like that? If not, I hope you will create one as an invitation to sacred encounters in this new year!

“Until we are able to have at least a little silence every day, both outside and in, . . . we have no hope of coming to know either God or ourselves very well.” – Joan Chittister

 

 

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The Voice

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“All your desire to encounter Christ is embraced, transformed by His desire to come towards you.”

There were announcements of Jesus’ coming birth to Joseph and Mary, and shepherds. But in the darkness of the Bethlehem stable, the most amazing announcement of all came directly from the swaddled newborn boy as He stirred and His cry broke the silence of that night. That baby’s cry was the voice of God Himself.

That cry shook the world of angels and demons. Eons ago, they had heard it break the silence as it called the world into being. They knew it as the voice that cast Satan and his angels out of heaven. That voice was now coming from a small bundle of humanity. Could it be? What power was contained in that cry! What foreshadowing of what would come in His life. What hope for the world, created perfectly, now fallen. God had not sent a prophet this time or a king or an angel. He had come Himself and the world would never be the same.

The voice of God still speaks today for those who will hear. As we sit before Him in worship and wonder, we listen, waiting to hear again the voice that broke the silence of that holy night. Then we hear it: His voice resounds in the deepest recesses of our heart through His Word and through His Spirit. Receive!

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her King!”

Quote taken from a Pray-as-You-Go meditation. Thanks to Deb Karish for posting the Christmas pageant photo from 1980!

 

 

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A Prodigal Thanksgiving

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“Every good and perfect gift is from above.” – James 1:17

There once was a great thanksgiving feast that involved two sons. One had asked for an early inheritance and then took off, spending all his money partying and having fun. The older son stayed home and worked in the family business doing all the right things.

When the irresponsible son ran out of money and was desperate, Jesus says he came to his senses. Apparently he realized how much had been provided for him and how much he missed the privilege of being under his father’s roof. He went home, a humbled man, thankful beyond measure that he was invited back into the family.

The older son, though, was miffed. He’d been faithful all this time, but it seems not having any fun at all. He had been obedient, clean-living, and hard-working. Sure, he had a home, family, and satisfaction in his work, but he was resentful and bitter. He wouldn’t even come to the thanksgiving feast his father was throwing for his brother’s homecoming.

In this parable, the father was thankful, the younger son was thankful (I’m sure other family members were, too, though Jesus didn’t mention them), but the older son was not thankful. Instead, he was angry that he was not the center of attention and celebration.

Only the truly humble are aware of the blessings poured out on us by our heavenly Father every day. A humble heart is a thankful (and happy!) heart.

So, let’s celebrate with friends and family the blessings of our Father’s generous love. It’s time for a party – happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

“Sincere gratitude flourishes only in a heart that is humble, convinced of its own poverty and thoroughly aware that it is nothing and can do nothing without continual help from God.” (from Divine Intimacy)

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He’s Not Giving Up

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“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” – Augustine

Sometimes I think that if I were God, I would be ready to give up on me. I just am not where I want to be in my spiritual life and I imagine He must be getting pretty tired of me coming back to Him with the same old sins to confess and the same old worries to present. Sometimes, it’s discouraging.

Then He speaks something like this to me:

“You are securely connected to Me.

• I will never change my mind about you.
• I already know who you are and how you will finish.
• I will never let you go.
• I will never stop blessing you.”

He makes no excuses for me, but He accepts me as I am. He knows I am dust and I will fall. He knows I am weak and I will stumble. But still He lets me feel His love and, when I open myself to receive it, I am ready to begin again. He always welcomes me back.

He will never give up on me. And He won’t give up on you, either. Not ever. It’s OK to be amazed at that!

“When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul.” (Psalm 94:19)

 

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Glimpses of Another World

“If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” – C. S. Lewis

“The soul can split the sky in two and let the face of God shine through.” – Edna St. Vincent Millay

There is another world intersecting with ours every day. We usually are oblivious to it, but I am learning that we don’t have to be.

Jesus is the door to that world and we often feel closest to it when we pray, or praise, or think on His Word. Another key component for me, though, has been in practicing awareness:

  • God reveals a little of Himself in the flower we hold, in the waves of the sea, or in the stars on cloudless night. Are we paying attention to His creation?
  • God’s image is in every person we meet, though they may not know it. Are we aware? Are we looking for Him in them?
  • There is a bigger purpose behind everything we do and everything that happens to us. Can we sense it?

As we become more and more attuned to the intersecting world, we realize how absolutely real it is. It makes the world we see, as C. S. Lewis also says, seem like “only shadows” of the reality that exists. What is truly amazing is that God sometimes pulls back the curtain to give our souls a glimpse of the invisible. It is then we realize that our deepest desires can be met only in the world we cannot see. A taste leaves us longing for more. Awareness, living mindfully, can help us see the unseen.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

 

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I Know He Knows

 

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“My business is to remain in the presence of God.” – Brother Lawrence

As I was approaching God this morning, I was trying to lay down concerns that could be distractions to my time with Him. I gave Him my list of worries – people, commitments, usefulness – all of that. Then, as I sat with Him, in my mind I heard:

“You know that I know and that’s all you need to know – for now.”

Oh, yes! I know that He knows, so I can walk away from meddling. This is God I am talking to – the almighty, all-knowing, always loving God. There is no safer place to leave those I care about, projects I have taken on, or unsolvable problems in the world. He knows! He has power! He is loving. I have full confidence that He will act when the time is right and, in the interim, will walk with me moment-by-moment through conversations, confrontations, decisions, and planning.

Knowing that He knows allows me to let go, to rest in Him, and to live fully the life He has put in front of me today. Knowing that He knows is freedom and joy, even in the waiting time.

“Stand still and see the great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.” (1 Samuel 12:16)