STILL Trying to HEAR God
"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him:" Psalm 37:7
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27
I went out to the lake (really it’s just a pond) to eat my lunch and chill out. It was a looong weekend. With my binoculars I could see a small alligator on the other side of the pond. So I decided to walk over and get a better look at him. He's only about three feet long. I know that when I get there he will have left but I figure that if I wait long enough he'll re-surface and maybe I'll get to see him. So I walk over and have a seat on a fallen log.While I'm sitting there the scriptures "Be still and listen" come to my mind. Really it’s a combination of Psalm 37:7, possibly John 10:27 and a sermon I heard about a year ago.
It occurred to me that when I'm in the woods and I want to see wildlife I have to be still and listen for them. Generally there are animals all around me but my own hurrying and noise keeps me from seeing them. If I will get still, wait long enough and be quiet I will be able to see them. This is a lot like God though he isn't hiding ( maybe he does blend in with the world he created) we just can't see him for all our self-absorbed hustling and bustling around. Like the animals in the woods God is all around us we just can't see him because we're too caught up in our own work to see him at his. Well just like too often in my spiritual life I didn't wait very long before I gave up and I didn't get to see the little alligator. If I want to see that gator up close I'm going to have to plan to set aside enough time. Maybe I should schedule in enough time for God too.
