Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Practice Makes Perfect Peace

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31


"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters."                                  Psalm  23:1-2

     Solitude is a gift.

     Discipline is required in solitude.  It is learned discipline.  Our environment offers any number of noisy options to keep us constantly entertained.  We have forgotten how to be quiet.  When I first began to give myself to the discipline of solitude, I despaired of ever being able to quiet my mind.  I would turn the radio or TV off and sit for a while.  My mind would wander all over the place.  I was repeatedly discouraged, wanting to quit, reasoning that this was simply not the way for me to fellowship with God.  But I didn't give up.  I kept trying.  After a while I began to relax into being alone with God.  I left all my lists and requests behind.  This was time for quiet, not for petition.

     My times of silence  before God are very important to me now.  I put everything else down, every word away and I am with the Lord.  When I'm quiet, life falls into perspective for me.  I have a very active mind and I'm a worrier, but in those moments when I choose to put that away, I rest beside the Shepherd in still places.

     Why don't you give yourself a gift today?  Turn off the television or the car stereo, put down the newspaper or the business plan, and in the quietness, rest for a while beside the Shepherd of your soul.


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