Friday, February 22, 2013

Silent Conversations

The character that defines me and the person that I have become over the years is a direct result of time spent alone with God. Silence and Solitude are the two heavy hitters in my spiritual disciplines for the molding of my person. I've listened to well-put-together sermons and gone to many fantastic conventions and sat through many Sunday Schools and Wednesday Nights, and those have aided me in my pursuit of God, but the times which really alter my soul and my being are the times where I stop trying to actively learn new things about God and let Him speak new things into me. Sadly, sometimes I get so worked up in the joy of increasing my knowledge of God that I forget all about stopping for a moment and listening to Him. 

I am a product of long drives and even longer walks - of minutes and hours alone in the stillness, waiting for God. As foolish as it may sound, the memories of those times are some of the most joyful memories I have, for it is in those times that God speaks into my troubles, my anxiousness, and my fear and calms it; it is in those times that God highlights my successes and my victories. I generally take more intimate encouragement from my quiet times with God than I do with my loud times with friends. My friends speak to my ears and my mind, but God speaks to my heart and my soul; God gets to take a shortcut and split me right down the middle and pick apart my innermost being. When I sit and am quiet before God, He reaches beyond my defenses and gets right to the issue at hand. He convicts, challenges, and encourages without taking any unneeded steps to get there. My community is a great supporter in my Christian walk, but there is nothing better or more necessary for a Christian than an intimate, two-way relationship with God.

What I'm trying to say is this: Even though you've got ten thousand things to do today and twenty thousand to do tomorrow, how much more important are they than your relationship with God? Next time you're driving alone, would you maybe think of flipping off the radio and just listening? When you find you have an extra half hour on your hands, would it be better spent on Facebook or listening to God? I'm not condemning anyone for not spending all their time quiet before God, obviously, but I do know that quiet time is something that I struggle to maintain. I really would encourage everyone who reads this to try and schedule just 10 minutes a day to isolate yourself and spend the time just listening. I know I've been amazed with how far I've come and what I've become through my quiet time with God.

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