“Wide open” or “sound asleep”…are two speeds very familiar to my life. How do I operate on a speed that is somewhere in between? Being intentional with a plan…and executing that plan…moves me forward at a speed that keeps me excited about life and all that God has for me.
There is a speed we all need to select/choose. We have to be very intentional about it though. It is the conscious state of “Being Still;” something that has been a challenge for me but vitally necessary in order for me to hear God. Why are two little words so difficult for so many of us?
There is no doubt that God has specific plans for each and everyone of us. He is sovereign and desires for us to “Seek Him and Listen to Him.” I have been asked many times, “How do you hear God?” and “How do you know it is Him?” Through experience and personal testimony, I can answer with much confidence that it comes from being very intentional with a “plan” and executing that plan daily… a meeting with Jesus. God has given us several ways that help us know Him, Know his plan, and be able to fulfill it.
First, He gave us a choice. We get to choose to seek Him. He doesn’t force us to do so; it is our choice…. :o) So we have to choose Him daily.
Second, He gave us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit that comes to indwell in us when we pray and invite Him into our hearts (a choice).
Third, but really first, we have His Word, scripture that is God breathed. It is the first and most apparent way God speaks to us, through His Word. (We get to choose to read it.)
These three are readily available BUT we must choose that speed of “being still”…..slowing down and being intentional about “listening”…..and “seeking His direction for our day and life!”
Early morning, before anyone is awake, has been the most opportune time for me to SEEK GOD OUT!
To “BE STILL” with
…no distractions…
and “be quiet” so that I can hear Him.
My mother always said, “You can’t give to anyone what you don’t have.” Her words have helped me to know, “If I haven’t had Jesus in the morning, then I have nothing to give anyone during my day and no REAL DIRECTION.”
So, I created a place in our home…that is my meeting place. I now, after the movie “War Room,” have added another name to this place that I have called my “quiet place”. It very well could be called my “war room”. It’s where I sit in my favorite chair with my Bible, my laptop, my music, my journal, my “Spark” (my alternative to coffee), my scented candle and a favorite blanket. It has become a unique place where I engage God and the five senses he has given me–sight, sound, smell, taste, and feel.
I have never looked at this very “holy” place as a “war room” until now. Very appropriate name. Because yes, I have fought “wars” in my special room. Wars…of heartache, fear, lostness (lack of direction) and pain and have been given courage.
This room has also been a place of healing, direction (a battle plan), celebration, peace and comfort. A “Strategy” room where God has spoken to me and clearly laid out His direction and plan for me. It has been an “emergency” room where God has handled the emergencies of my life and, yes, “stilled my heart!”
Today…I encourage you to create a place and make time…for the speed of “being still”. When you have been with Jesus, you can be just like Peter and John in Acts 4:13. “When they saw the COURAGE of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men they were astonished and they THEY TOOK NOTE that these MEN HAD BEEN WITH JESUS” [emphasis mine].
From my own personal testimony, it has been my own “astonishment” and “amazement” of the “Power of the Holy Spirit” in my life….from sitting and seeking in my “War Room!”
Go to war today…….It may become your most “Cherished Place!”
“We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in his service.”
“Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word.”
~both quotes by Charles Spurgeon