Have you ever felt as if you were in a mud slide, with the cares of life falling down upon you?
I can’t help but think that: Elijah was feeling that way when he was trying to run away from it all, by hiding in a cave. There was a powerful wind, an earthquake and a fire but God was not speaking to Elijah from the things that surrounded him. God’s voice came in a whisper. When Danial was in the Lion’s den he wasn’t listening to the lions roar or the chatter of negative people who said he would surly be eaten by the lions. He was listening for the whisper of God’s voice which gave him peace. When Joseph was in prison, although he was well aware of his surroundings, he wasn’t listening to the other prisoners complain, he was listening for the voice of the God he served. When Ruth was gleaning in the fields of a foreign land, and others were talking about how she didn’t belong and looking down upon her as less than, she was listening for the whisper of the one true God. Through out his life, David was continually taken back to the silence of a shepherd’s field or a cave, where he was alone in a secluded place. It was there he could hear the whisper of God. When life’s challenges seem more than we can bear, we must go back to the place where we first heard the whisper of God and feel the peace of his presence. For me it is impossible to hear what God is saying among the chatter in a mass of people, if I am not first spending time in seclusion with Him in the quiet place, listening for the whisper of His voice. For it is only in that place that I find peace in the midst of the storms of life. Months ago I had a dream. In the dream a woman was passing out scrolls as she ran. She turned for a brief moment and looked at me and said, I live at 1532. Upon awakening, I began to ponder and ask the Father the meaning of the dream. I discovered that the number 15 means rest and the number 32 means covenant. Rest in the covenant. I must remember where I live, in the place of rest with Him. For it is then and only then I can distribute the scrolls (word of God) which He has put within me. When Jesus was in the boat, he was sleeping with his head on a pillow in the midst of a storm. He was not focused on the storm raging around him, or the busy chatter of those in fear. Did he care? Yes, he cared but he was resting in the covenant of his fathers peace and love. And when he was awakened to the screams and yelling of those around him, He stood and said. “Peace. Be still.” When we live in Christ, peace is all around us. We only need to command it to be still in Jesus mighty name. It may not change the situation, but it will change the storm within us which we have been focusing on, so we can hear the whisper of His voice and rest in the covenant of his love for us. Be Still and Know that He is God. Psalm 46:10 He will keep in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on Him. Isaiah 26:3 Rest in the covenant of His love for you. |