Not another wait

When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst. Why? Because the Master won’t ever walk out and fail to return. If he works severely, he also works tenderly. His stockpiles of loyal love are immense. (Lamentations 3:28-32)

Life isn't always going to go our way. In fact, we will likely face more than one hiccup in our day today. When hiccups come, how do you handle them? Do you complain like I do sometimes? Do you say life isn't fair like I do at times? Do you just want to escape it all like I do on occasion? If you didn't notice it as I asked those questions, I don't always embrace what I am going through - there are times I want to find the quickest and easiest way to be 'out of the mess'. Life is heavy and hard to take - sometimes more frequently than we might like. When we face these 'hiccups' in life our response isn't to run - but to wait. Okay, I know I just crossed the line there when I reminded each of us to wait. Waiting when trouble is abounding is definitely not the way most of us would deal with life - we want to run away, question God's goodness, or complain in bitter anger because we don't feel like things are 'fair'.

Enter the silence - in other words, get your mind, will, and emotions into times of 'prayer' - talk to God about it and then shut-up and just listen! I know, I am not supposed to tell anyone to 'shut-up', but sometimes we just need to be in a place where we can finally hear what God is about to do. Understand this - 'shutting-up' is more than us not talking. How many times can you sit in silence, all the while your mind is racing, emotions moving every which way, and your will just itching to get things underway? If you are anything like me, I can sit in silence and be 'calculating' in my mind, 'ramping up' in my emotions, and 'digging in' with my stubborn willfulness. Enter into silence - mind, will, and emotions settled, attentive, ceasing to plan and manipulate. Why is this so powerful for us to understand? It is as we 'settle into' God's presence, we find we make room for his movement within us. 

Have you ever entered into silence and felt the conviction of God? Yup, been there, done that, got the shirt, and worn out the shirt more than once! As we 'settle into' God's presence, we might soon find ourselves sharing our doubts and fears - nothing is too superficial to share with God. As we share those doubts, he can bring us into a place of trust. As we share our fears, he can bring us into a place of understanding his power. As we share our wrong responses, he can share his mercy and grace - forgiving us, creating his peace within. When conviction comes, don't run from it - embrace it. Whenever conviction comes, grace is God's response. Silence may just bring the hope we so eagerly desire, but before it comes, we must 'settle ourselves', lay down our fears and doubts, and just embrace his love. In the time it takes us to 'settle in', we are learning to 'wait'. Don't resist the wait - embrace it - grace is on the other side of that 'wait'. Just sayin'.

Quiet isn't the absence of noise

I bet you could almost guess what my "Q" List would hold this morning.  There were a variety of possibilities, such as quickness to respond to God's voice and leading, or possibly the quality of time and energies you expend toward the things God desires.  I chose just one word to focus on this morning:  Quietness.  For most of us, this comes as a bit of a hard thing because we are used to "noise" in our lives.  We are inundated with all kinds of things which add background and foreground noise.  Background noise is there, almost unnoticed, until it is gone.  Foreground noise is evident, with it even getting our attention in the here and now.  Yet noise is just that - noise.  Noise is really something which just confuses the clarity of that which is really trying to come through!  So, as we focus this morning on our Q-List, let's begin by thinking about the things which are really "just there" creating confusion in our lives - things which once removed might just give us a little more clarity on what it is God may just be trying to show us.

I’ve kept my feet on the ground, I’ve cultivated a quiet heart.  Like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content.  (Psalm 131:2 MSG)

Quietness is the opposite of noise - it is not the total absence of it, but it is the clarifying and eliminating of all which lends confusion.  As this process occurs, the "disturbance" created by the noise settles and you are often free to begin to hear / see the reality of what is ahead of you.  For most, we'd say the place of quietness was the total absence of noise, but I have to ask this - how many of us actually can achieve a place of comfort in the total absence of noise?  Most of us would say it kind of freaks us out.  We have a hard time remaining absolutely still, no one talking, no I-Pod plugged in, no fan creating some background noise.  This is probably why so many people just cannot abide with silence when they are together with each other - silence makes us uncomfortable.  Why?  Maybe it is because we begin to imagine all the things which might be "wrong" when one is silent.  Or perhaps it is the intensity of focus it requires to be truly still.  It really doesn't matter - silence is difficult.

Our psalmist reminds us of what it is God desires - a quiet heart.  Remembering the heart is made up of our mind, will, and emotions, it might just make sense why this is so important.  When there is a clarifying and eliminating of thoughts which only create confusion, lend distraction, or impede our truly concentrating, God is pleased.  When the desires of our heart are toward that which doesn't create more chaos in our lives, God is pleased.  When our emotions are not in a tumultuous churning, God is pleased.  How many of us actually achieve this place of "quietness" or "stillness" - I mean really?  Here's something you need to keep in mind - it is not the absence of emotion, the absence of decisiveness, or the absence of thinking God desires, it is the centering of our emotions, thoughts, and desires on him!

Some of us need to slow down long enough to actually get quiet before God.  We just spin at hundreds of revolutions per minute continuously and wonder why we don't feel fulfilled, whole, and like we have made a difference today.  The quietness David exemplified in his life was not the total absence of activity, but the choice to engage in the "RIGHT" activity.  A few week's ago, my pastor posed a question which actually provided an assurance about a decision I had made earlier that week.  Here's what he asked:  What are you spending your time, talent, and resources on today which could be done by another, while not pursuing what only you can do?  Now, let that one sink in.  We often spend ourselves on doing what someone else could very easily do - all the while neglecting the very thing NO ONE ELSE can do!  It is God's intention for us to be quiet enough to get clarity on matters of the soul such as this.  When we begin to ask the right questions, we might just get the right answers!

Here's the down and dirty, friends:  Quietness is difficult, but it is necessary.  If we aren't regularly "settling" our hearts long enough to actually begin to see the "confusion" settle as well, we are just "settling for" life in a confused, chaotic state.  No amount of self-help classes or books will ever change things for us.  No amount of retreats to the mountain tops will ever make up for the lost times when we could have just settled down right there on our own couches and let God speak to us in the stillness of our time with him.  Maybe this is why Christians have coined the phrase "Quiet Time" as the time we take each day to be alone with God, get perspective on his Word for us, and then share from our hearts with him.  

David also penned these words:  Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!  (Psalm 46:10 AMP)  Don't miss it - he tells us to "LET BE" and "BE STILL".  In other words, let things go and then be still.  It isn't until we learn to let go we come into the place of stillness.  Just sayin!

Silence speaks volumes

Let praise cascade off my lips; after all, you've taught me the truth about life! 
   And let your promises ring from my tongue; every order you've given is right.  Put your hand out and steady me since I've chosen to live by your counsel. 

(Psalm 119:171-173 The Message)

Have you heard the term, "Talk is cheap"?  It means it is easier to talk ABOUT something than to do it!  Another meaning would be it is easier to talk ABOUT someone than to do something for them.  We could say talk is "cheap" in many respects - - if our words aren't a sincere revelation of our motives (inner heart), they are simply have no real "force" behind them.

I have friends who speak continuously when we are together.  Other simply are happy to sit and enjoy times of quiet with me, occasionally bringing some discussion into the quiet, but it is not the main "theme" of our time together.  I was once told we could "gauge" the "comfort" of an individual in our relationship by their need to continually make "small talk" in our time together.  As my relationships have matured, the need to always be engaged in conversation has decreased.  So, I think this observation may be true.

How do you find your time with the Lord?  Is it a continual conversation, barely pausing for a breath?  Is there a sense of "filling" space with conversation?  If so, you might find you are a little concerned about the "silence"!  Why?  It may be the silence frightens you because you have never learned the value of just spending "time" with each other.  Whenever I have paused my talking TO God long enough, I begin to "take in" things around me purposefully revealed by his hand.  

For example, when sitting quietly on a recent trip, enjoying the mild weather and gentle breezes of Virginia, I began to just "take in" what was around me.  In just a short time, I began to look at the "floor" of the small creek bed and forest just behind the timeshare.  The fallen branches created little havens for the creatures scurrying around.  Squirrels perches atop them, birds pecked underneath them, and if I had looked a little further, I bet I would have found that insects mad a home there, too.

In short order, God began to show me the purpose God has for the "broken".  The trees were filled with turning leaves, gently whispering the ebbs and flow of the breezes.  The floor of the forest was lined with colorful fallen leaves, broken branches, and fallen acorns.  In terms of looking at the trees or the forest floor, one might quickly say the trees still served a purpose - - they were full of the evidence of life!  Yet, when we really consider the floor, guess what we see?  You got it!  Life!

Even in what appeared to have been 'discarded' by the trees (those fallen leaves, the broken branches, and the drying acorns), there was an immense purpose!  The leaves provide protection to the roots during the coming winter chill.  The fallen branches acted as resting spots for the creatures scurrying about.  The drying acorns would be laid up for the leaner times little forest critters would face later in the year.  Each held a purpose far greater than evident by just a cursory glance.

The same is true of each of us - - we serve a purpose not always evident on the surface.  In the quiet of discovery, our purpose becomes apparent.  What impressed me most in my time of listening to God, being open to his teaching, was the truth that in death God produces the basis for life!  It was in death his Son provided the basis for eternal life with God.  It is in death our hope begins!  

Praise cascades from the lips of one who realizes this truth to be true in their lives!  In the quietness of praise, the truths of God become true in our lives.  Did you ever think there was a purpose in "quiet" praise?  Yep!  Not every moment with God needs to be filled with words!  Sometimes the greatest message is in the quiet we enjoy together!  So, speak on God!  We are quiet now.