Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalm 27:13-15
BE STILL - Hear His Voice Amidst The Rush Hour
Rev 3:20 Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him and he with me.
After praying I read Psalm 46 before racing to do all I had to do that day. "God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble." So true yet this morning verse 10 caught my attention. "Be still and know that I am God". I recall thinking, "that's fine Lord I have so much that I must do today". So off I rushed to do all that must be done the list was endless no time to stop and be still.
Lunchtime came I just had to go to the bank and pay some bills. I was about to cross the busy road when I saw a friend I hadn't seen in years. I was about to press on when I felt one of those impulses to stop and wait for her. There she was standing in the middle of busy traffic, a mobile phone clutched to her ear. In the other hand she was holding bags of shopping and a half eaten sandwich. We exchanged hellos and joy after so much time. Then she announced she could not stop she was on her lunch break. To busy to stop to eat lunch life was so hectic. She couldn't possibly make time to catch up as she was in the middle of a messy divorce. I gave her my contact details and a promise to pray for her. Then she dashed off.
Suddenly I felt tired and weary. I walked across to the park nearby and sat on a bench. After praying for my friend I reflected how awful it would be not to have the peace of the Lord in my life. As I lifted my gaze I noticed the beautiful blossoms on the cherry tree. A robin chirped at me on the branch nearby. I then noticed next to me was a beautiful well. The story of Jesus and the Woman of Samaria (John 4) came to mind. "Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour."
I reflected how Jesus always made time to be with His Father and when weary he always took time out. Was he being 'still' that day before the Samaritan Woman came? My friend was too busy to stop or make time to catch up. Wasn't this similar to my morning? Yes I needed to make time to listen and hear the Lord not pray and dash off. I needed to prioritise my time.
I sat immersed in the beauty of the flowers and blossoms. Suddenly I no longer needed to be in a rush I was enjoying the moment. Then I recalled the message "Be still …"
Amidst the background of distant traffic, people passing by, birds chirping and the hum of the bees I heard him speaking to me and it was good.
"Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom." Psalm 90:12
Author Jan Lyall (C) 2004 - If you need prayer support please email Jan @ prayereflections@yahoo.com.au & I will pray for you.
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Reflective Thought: Psalm 46 (NIV):
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.' The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress
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Reflective Prayer: Lord please slow me down to be still with you. Help me be a wise steward of my time.
Slow Me Down Lord
Slow me down, Lord;
Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me amid the confusion of the day the calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles
with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory.
Teach me the art of taking minute vacations,
of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend,
to smile at a child, to read a few lines from a good book.
Slow me down, Lord,
And inspire me to send my roots deep
deep into the soil of life's enduring values,
that I may grow toward my greater destiny.
Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift,
that there is more to life than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward to the towering oak
and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.
Author: Owen L.Crain
