Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Psalm 105:3
The joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
Netflix. Redbox. Dish Network. Facebook. Candy Crush. Sirius XM. Idevices (pods, pads, phones). With little effort, a person living in American can receive outside input every waking moment. Whether it is music, information, movies or games, a person's senses are constantly being assailed. God's still small voice is lost. Crushed. Drowned out.
The 18th century words of an unknown "poor Methodist woman" should challenge each Christian living in today's world of sights and sounds.*
"I do not know when I have had happier times in my soul, than when I have
been sitting at work, with nothing before me but a candle and a white
cloth, and hearing no sound but that of my own breath, with God in my soul
and heaven in my eye… I rejoice in being exactly what I am,—a creature
capable of loving God, and who, as long as God lives, must be happy. I get
up and look for a while out of the window, and gaze at the moon and stars,
the work of an Almighty hand. I think of the grandeur of the universe, and
then sit down, and think myself one of the happiest beings in it."*
When was the last time you turned out all the lights, lite a candle and stared out the window or took a drive to a dark country road just to sit and rejoice in being a child of God? No phone, no radio, not even any praise music. God is present in nature- the night song of the frogs, the twinkling of the stars, the whisper of the wind.
Think of the hours of communion Christians of yesteryear must have had. Buggy rides with no satellite radio. A walk into town sans cell phone. Fishing on the banks of the river with nature's top 10 the only music around. The mind was free to think of things eternal. Thoughts, ideas, wonderments, all unencumbered by outside noise and distractions.
Not all alone time with God has to be about supplication, prayer and memory verses. I believe sometimes God wants His children just to enjoy sitting quietly and rejoice in His works.
Go to God just to be with God.
*Taken from the January 19 entry: Daily Strength for Daily Needs, Tileson, 1884.
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