Be Still

​TODAY’S VERSE “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalms 46:10 (NLT)

​TODAY’S THOUGHT
Have you ever noticed how we hate silence? I don’t mean the momentary silence after you walk inside from loud street noise. I mean the “quiet yourself down and think” kind of silence. It is so hard to shut off the inward noise. We are obsessed with busyness. It’s as if we are afraid to face who we really are and where we are in our journey. But we must face our loneliness. Leanne Payne makes this point in her book Listening Prayer. She writes, “Our Pastoral task is to help all needy individuals face their inner loneliness, and there begin to hear God and their own true self. Everyone one of us – not just those who are the most visibly wounded by the darkness in humanity and the world – has to face the inner loneliness and separation from God. We all need to begin the rigorous but sternly magnificent work of converting the ‘desert of loneliness’ within into the spaciously beautiful ‘garden of solitude’ where the true self comes forward and flourishes. This is the self capable of friendship and Christian fellowship.” As we face our life, we need to stop filling in the gaps with empty “busyness.” Instead, we need to consider who we are and all that God is. This will lead us on a beautiful journey of the soul. Why not start today? Throughout this day, stop and listen to your inner self; bring it to God and dialog with Him. May you begin to hear God and embrace your true self in Him.

TODAY’S PRAYER
Lord, so many times during the day You cry out my name, but I am too busy “keeping busy” that I do not hear You. How many times, Lord, You have wanted me to turn to You in my loneliness but I fill the void with noise. Lord, I am sorry. I want to hear You, I want to know You. Help me start today to convert my “desert of loneliness” into a “garden of solitude.” In Jesus’ name.
AMEN