Be Still And Know

The most vivid memories of God’s work in our lives are usually when we were either on top of the mountain or deep down in the valley. It is at those times in our life that that we are keenly aware of His presence. When we are in our darkest moments, we cry out to the Lord for help. When we are on top of the mountain, we shout to him with joy and thankfulness.

But what about the times that aren’t the mountaintop or desert experiences? The everyday path we walk. The small joys we experience. The trials we encounter in our lives that may not be catastrophic, but are nonetheless hard to bear. Are we as aware of His presence then?

I am walking that path right now. It is not a deep dark valley or a parched desert, but even so it is a time where I really need to hear God’s voice and He has been silent. I have been praying for understanding and discernment and still had no answer.

Does that mean He is not listening? Absolutely not! He hears every word I pray. He understands my hurt and confusion. He desires to provide me with His answers. He knows my heart.

I have learned over the years, that when God is silent, He is at work behind the scenes. He wants me to take His hand and walk with Him in the meantime. He wants me to wait patiently, trusting in His perfect timing to provide the answer. His word gives us definite instruction for those times. “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46:10)

Have you been waiting on God to answer a prayer? Do you feel as though His silence means that He isn’t listening to you? His word tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. “God has said, Never will I leave you: never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). If He promised He will never leave us, then He is surely here. We may not always know why He asks us to wait, but we can be sure He will answer in His perfect time.

So, for now, I will just “Be still and know that He is God.”

Fill My Cup Lord

Life seems to have gotten very busy since coming out of the desert. In the desert things seemed almost in slow motion. Time for morning devotionals out on the front porch. One to one encounters with Him during the long treatments. Time to reflect on His glory from the backyard swing in the afternoon. Feeling His presence right next to me whenever I needed to feel Him close.

But for now, God has brought me out of the desert. Life is good. No surgeries, no chemotherapy, no radiation treatments. Back to work full time. Up at 5:00, head to the hospital and before I know it, it is 7:15 pm and I am heading home with enough energy to eat dinner and fall into bed. Days off are filled with running errands, playing for a funeral, fixing a friend’s computer, choir practice, etc. And before I know it, it’s time to head back to work again. Oh sure there is time for quick prayer and scripture in the morning, and a prayer before falling asleep at night, but not the quality time spent with the Lord that I made time for when I was walking in the desert.

But then on Saturday something happened where I really needed to feel God’s presence. I was confused and discouraged by the circumstances around me and needed His discernment. But He felt far away. Why could I not feel His presence? How was it when I was in the desert, and a situation came before me, that I felt like He was right there?

On Sunday, when the children came for children’s moment, I had a pitcher of water and a cup. I told them I was thirsty and was going to pour myself a drink of water. However, when I went to pour the water, I turned the cup upside down, so that all the water ran off the sides and nothing filled the cup. Of course, the children quickly urged me to turn the cup right side up. This time when I poured the water, the cup filled to the top. I explained to the children that God wants to fill our lives with His presence. However, when we choose to turn our cup away from Him and fill it with other things, He can’t fill us up. But if we turn our cup upwards towards Him, He will fill us with His presence and all of His blessings.

As I sat down after the children’s moment, I realized that the last week my cup had been turned away from the living water. All of the “other” things in my life had gotten in the way of my time spent with Him. I had been giving Him my “left over” time and when I really needed my cup to be full, it was empty.

Have you felt like God is far away lately? Does your life feel empty? Have you called on Him, but felt like you couldn’t hear Him speak? Does your cup feel empty?

Perhaps He has been getting your “left-over” time? Maybe your cup, like mine, has been turned downward towards the “things” of this life instead of upward towards Him. Our Father longs to fill our cup with every blessing He can possibly give to us. But He can’t do it until we turn our cup towards Him.

I pray that this simple message, shared with the children, will touch your heart as it did mine. And that your cup would once again be turned towards Him allowing Him to fill it to overflowing with His blessings and love.

"I Love You Too"

My little grandson, Wyatt, is about to turn 3 years old. As a baby, he never had trouble going to sleep at night. Holly, his mom, could just put him in his crib and he would go right to sleep. He had no fears. The night didn't scare him at all. But as he has gotten a little older, he has figured out that there is a big world out there and sometimes there are things that scare him. Things that confuse him. Situations he doesn't understand.

And now, when the dark of night comes and it's time to go to sleep, his fears come to life. To compound his fears, the street light outside his bedroom window casts scary shadows on his wall. Holly put a brighter night light in his room but it didn't help. She tried to rearrange his bedroom so he couldn't see the window when he falls asleep. But he was still afraid. Finally she switched him to another bedroom and it helped somewhat.

But even after all her efforts to ease his fears, when Wyatt goes to sleep at night, he calls out from his room and says "I love you Mommy". And Holly answers back from outside his door, "I love you too, Wyatt." A few minutes later comes a little voice, "I love you Mommy." Followed by Holly's, "I love you too, Wyatt." And this continues on, over and over, for about 20 minutes until he finally drifts off to a peaceful sleep, confident his mommy is close by.

We are not unlike little Wyatt. Sometimes it seems like our world is too big. Circumstances come into our lives that we don't understand. Our problems seem big and we feel small. We feel alone. We become fearful and can't find peace or rest.

Perhaps when we are afraid of the night and our life seems cast with shadows, we could call out to our heavenly Father, "I love you Lord." Then we will hear him say "I love you too, my child." And soon our fears will be replaced with His peace and we will find sweet rest.