I remember what it felt like to live through this life with no pause, no silence and no exchange with God.
I wasn't as brave then. I did not jump in and say "yes" to the seemingly challenging propositions for my life.
I remember what it felt like to read a boldly written, beautiful quote like this,
"Present is a face bare of make-up, a sweater you've loved for a decade, a mug that reminds you of who you used to be. It's the Bible with the battered cover,the journal filled with scribbled, secret dreams. It isn't pretty, necessarily--it isn't supposed to be."
And repost the quote like this,
"Present is a face bare of make-up, a sweater you've loved for a decade, a mug that reminds you of who you used to be, the journal filled with scribbled, secret dreams. It isn't pretty, necessarily--it isn't supposed to be." Author: Shauna Niequist
See any differences?
I took the line about a Bible out. I remember that I used to do that a lot. If it said God or Bible or church or sin, I deliberately took it out or I changed God to Universe.
This is what I was doing, after all, in my everyday life...avoiding God through rushing from one achievement to the next, one party after another and always on the run from silence.
If there's anything I've learned it is that you can willfully take God out of the equation and live a decent life but when you say YES to letting God in, your life begins to transform from the inside out in a way that has no human words.
It takes being present though.
It takes putting your phone away and even putting your Bible away, to truly sit with God.
Sitting with God isn't about reading about him or studying his word. It's about waiting for Him to make an impression on you.
The word "sitting" triggers people but I think we have it all wrong or perhaps we ought to choose a better word because...
Sitting with God isn't always about the actual physical reality of sitting [though that piece is necessary too]. It's about letting God have a seat in your everyday life.
God is sitting with me while I'm sewing, while I'm driving, while I'm cooking, when I'm shopping and basically, up until the very moment that my head hits the pillow.
To let God have a seat means to let Him have a say.
Angry? Talk to him about it instead of taking it out on your kid.
Excited? Talk to him about it.
Sad? Talk.
Bored? Talk.
And then, be willing to listen.
God often responds through impressions on our thoughts. It may sound like your own thought but with discernment, you begin to understand which is God's and which is not. He may send visions or prompt you with a task to complete that will help you navigate whatever it is you're handling at the moment.
All I know is that my days are richer, like lumpy, gritty soil, when I keep a seat open for God. Everyday I am planted and replanted, watered and given fuel to grow. Everyday I open the windows to my soul and breathe in the fresh perspective that is God's holyness.
Try it on sometime.
