Category Archives: wonders

Quiet

4 Replies

 

thumbdrive 022

It is quiet – not the eerie kind of quiet that sends shivers down the spine. 

No, rather it is the enveloping quiet wrapping itself like a hug around the soul.  It is the silence that caresses my heart to soften and awaken to His presence anew.   I find it now in the early morning dark while the busy world slumbers.  It is in this quiet hush that I hear His voice whisper. 

I am learning not to fight the internal alarm clock that rouses me at 3am but instead embrace this quiet place.  Open my eyes, my heart and my soul to the One whose whispers have too long been drowned out in the whir of life. 

Be still, be calm, see, and understand I am the True God.  Psalm 46:10 Voice

I sit here emptying myself of all the noise that has invaded my heart.  It roars as water rushing through a crumbling dam.  There is no way to stop it now – the force is too great and it spews me hollow.   And yet, in this pouring out I am not left vacant but available… 

Stillness has to do with seeing…the opening our eyes to another dimension, to the mystery of God that lies all about us.  M. Mayne

…available to Him. 

 

 

 

 

Faith Walking

Leave a reply

evergreen path

Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder. Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice of Your universe…Each day enrapture me with Your marvelous things without number. I do not ask to see the reason for it all; I ask only to share
in the wonder of it all.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

I want to be a faith-walker. I want to be one who does not muddle a life journey with the need to know. I want to be one who steps out in faith into the great unknown desiring only to share in the wonder and glory of the God who created it all.

  • Like Noah, who built an ark when it wasn’t raining. Like Abraham, who went even though he didn’t know where he was going.
  • Like David, who as a child killed the giant warrior with a stone and a sling while the armies watched.
  • Like Esther, who approached the king not knowing if he would receive her or kill her.
  • Like Isaiah, who saw the Lord seated on His throne; felt his unworthiness and with touch of God’s glory eagerly offered to be sent by the Lord as a prophet.
  • Like the disciples, who left their nets and their lives to follow the One who called to them.
  • Like Stephen, who spoke boldly for the Lord and was stoned for it – in his dying moment he prayed for those who threw the stones.
  • Like Saul,who became Paul after a meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus. His life was never the same.

A faith walker doesn’t ask why. With faith, there is that unknown factor. If you can see, you can touch it and you know why it is there – do you really need faith?

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

I am not a faith walker or at least not one with great consistency.  My “why’s” are often like the “why’s” of a toddler, incessant. Is the need to know really important?If knowing the “why’s” doesn’t change the circumstance then the knowing isn’t important.  Faith, however, is essential. Often, the situation remains unchanged but it is faith that causes a transformation. Not in the circumstance but in the heart.

My “why’s” should be my “why not’s” in Christ.

Why not believe in the God who created my inmost being and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Why not believe in the God who has created and ordained the days before even one came into being. Why not believe in the God who gave of His very own save me.  Why not trust my yesterday, today and tomorrow to the God who planned for me, created me, saved me, knows me and sustains me.

Faith goes up the stairs that love has made and looks out the window which hope has opened.

Charles H. Spurgeon
(This is a repost from my earlier blog with a few minor edits – there are always room for edits.)

My Portion

2 Replies

I have a coworker who lives right on the Potomac River.  He and his wife wake up each morning to sunrises over the water.  Often, as I am driving to work on the George Washington Parkway I get a quick glimpse of these morning lights shimmering through the trees.  I think of them and enviously wish these views were my morning portion.  Each day seems markedly different than the previous and yet, not one is less than the other. 

All are captivating.

This morning as I walked once again around our little lake (or is it a pond), I prayed for fresh eyes to see His glory and grace.  He never disappoints – as I am so often prone to do.  A whispered prayer carried to the heavens and then this I behold…

 

He is a generous God.  A giver all that is good and perfect.  He calls us to choose the right thing like Mary who sat His feet savoring His Presence and not be like Martha who was distracted and bothered by the unnecessary (Luke 10: 41-42)

Friends, I am so guilty of a Martha mindset.  I miss the beauty in my own little world – too busy to see the graces right in front of me – too distracted by the unnecessary to enjoy my portion.  So today, I pray for eyes to see, ears to listen and a heart to ponder.

Today I savor His presence in my portion.  Join me, my friends, for we each have our share of grace to enjoy.

Christmas Forever Changed

1 Reply

 

Today I was reading a devotional and this pricked at my heart…

“Do not allow Christmas to be defined by your disappointment but allow your disappointment to be forever changed because of Christmas.”  **

While the sparkle and lights of Christmas often do well to hide the disappointment in our hearts, I think it is safe to say that many of us have that place where the colorful twinkle and the best of gifts cannot take away the emptiness left by disappointment. 

Loved ones gone.  Dreams forgotten.  Hopes dashed. 

We long to distract our focus from our hearts that heave heavy and echo empty.  So, we fill with our moments with fluff and tinsel.  We pretend that the empty rattle is nothing more than a jingle of a holiday bell.  In doing so, we foolishly believe that our distractions hide the hollow in our heart. 

God, however, knows we need more.  He longs for us sit quietly in His presence and acknowledge the disappointment. 

Release comes in the recognizing and the admitting we are disappointed.  Yet, we hold tightly to the emptiness.  So tight, we can’t even grasp the fullness He wants to give. 

Do we fear that God will be angry with our empty?  Frustrated with our broken?  He designed and knit our existence.  His purpose is the one that defines our lives.  Disappointment wasn’t His intention but it became our portion when flesh broke free and ate of an apple.

But God never leaves us where our brokenness seeks to hide.

On one ordinary day, flesh moved and life breathed in a feeding trough of a stable.  Grace was born in a world so wanting.  The very first gift on the very first Christmas – so small yet full – still labors to be born in our hearts today.

I challenge you – as I challenge myself – lay aside the fluff and the tinsel.  Give voice to the empty echo and let it go.  The Christ Child born that day so long ago is our Immanuel today.  May our Christmas be forever changed by Christ. 

 

** Joy! To Your World-A Countdown to Christmas on Bible App YouVersion

 

Today…

1 Reply

May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

St. Thérèse de Lisieux