Jeremiah 33:3-Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
At the church that I am a part of, we have some property that is wooded. We have put a path in the woods that we use for different things throughout the year; and I like to go out there from time to time just to be alone and pray.
Most of the time I walk back and forth on the trail as I pray, speaking out loud to God as I walk; but recently I decided to sit down on a bench in the middle of the woods and just be quiet.
After a couple of minutes, I noticed a couple of painted turtles sunning themselves on a log in our little quarry... and then a goldfinch landed on a branch next to me... then an oriole flew overhead... and a woodpecker landed on another tree not far away. The best part was that I got to watch 2 foxes play for about 20 minutes without being noticed.
I wondered how many times I had missed all this beauty because I was being too loud and moving around- and I felt the Holy Spirit whisper in my ear. How many times do I miss what God is saying because I'm too busy talking in my prayer time to just listen for His voice?
This is a big challenge to my faith, because if I believe that the Creator of the Universe, the One who saved my soul and loves me more than I could ever imagine is present with me at all times, then why wouldn't I leave room in my time with Him for HIM TO BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION!
There is absolutely precedence in Scripture for speaking our hearts to God, but conversation is a 2-way street. When we bring a problem to God with thanksgiving, do we leave time for Him to give us His perspective in that moment? Or do we move on to the next problem as if we have to get through the list... as if we are just getting through the information.
Don't get me wrong, God has the biggest shoulders in the Universe, and can handle our laments. He can handle our soap boxes, and our efforts to try to communicate to Him what is really in our hearts; and I know that (at least for me) it not only takes speaking it out loud, but it takes a few tries to get it right.
Let's not get so caught up in what we have to bring to our God that we forget to just be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). There's beauty to be seen if we will take the time to wait in His presence.
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