Distracted . . . to Peaceful

I spent time with the Lord this morning. I prayed for those in my life who are ill, hurting or need prayer in other ways. Then I sat and listened. At first, I didn't get any words from the Lord. I sat there at the table and listened to the sounds of the house: the washing machine swishing, the dryer running and the tick-tocking of a nearby clock. I really tried to focus and relax. I shut my eyes. I thought I could hear the faint humming of the refrigerator. I found that as hard as I was trying, I just couldn't obtain complete concentration due to the lack of silence. My thoughts were interrupted by these random sounds. I was distracted by the things around me. I really thought about this and realized that God was showing me something important here. It reminded me of a vision that I had a few years ago.

I can actually remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting at the triage desk at work waiting for the next patient to come. I was looking out the front window when I saw a vision of a long road or path. At the end of the path was the Lord. The path was littered with a lot of large debris like fallen trees, garbage, man-made things, etc. In order to get down this path to the Lord, I must remove all of the debris. With each piece of debris that I remove, the easier it is to get down the path and the closer I get to the Lord. The path in this vision is my life and my walk with the Lord. The debris is every distraction (good or bad) that gets in the way of me following the Lord. I must put all things aside to focus on the Lord. This includes all of the emotional "garbage" that I've collected over the years as well as the worldly distractions that are all around me.

How easy is it to let things of the world distract us from spending necessary time with the Lord? It doesn't take much for us to get caught up in worldly desires and activities. These distractions aren't always considered "sinful" either. Watching too much television or spending a lot of time surfing the Internet can certainly interfere with our devotional time. I admit that I have actually let my favorite hobby of knitting come between me and God. The Lord wants our best. He wants our first, not our last. He wants our attention, devotion, love, faithfulness and time. He wants us to come to Him regularly to completely give ourselves over to Him. He wants us to follow Him and be like Him. That's one reason He gave us Jesus. He sent His Son to this world as a living, breathing, perfect example for us to follow. Then He documented these specific examples of perfection from Jesus' life in the Holy Bible. He wants us to read it and to learn about Jesus so that we can be like Him. And then He wants us to teach our children how to be like Jesus. He doesn't want us to stop there, He wants us to tell our family, our friends, our coworkers, our enemies - well, pretty much everyone we can about Jesus and His perfect example of life. We need to tell others how He is working in our lives and share the Good News. That is why I started this blog, to share God and what He is doing in my life with anyone who is willing to sit and read it.

I'm certainly not perfect. Trust me, I am far from perfection. Jesus is the only person who is truly perfect in every way. I'm just saying that when I feel the Lord prompting me to do or say something, I try to be obedient. This is sometimes very difficult. Often people look at me like I'm an absolute freak. But that's OK, I don't really care. I just want to carry out God's plan for me. I feel that if I don't respond to God's calling, I or someone else will most likely miss out on His wonderful blessings.

I will admit that lately I haven't been spending time in the Lord like I should. I can feel a difference in myself and see a difference in my life. First of all I can tell that I'm just a little grumpier or crankier than usual. I don't get along with my family as well. It seems like we argue and disagree more. I just feel uneasy or unsettled . . . like I don't have that peace. You know, the peace of God that transcends all understanding? When I don't spend regular time with God, that peace is gone. I hate that. And then when I start to draw closer to Him again, the peace returns like water gently flowing over me. That, my friends, is truly the greatest feeling in the world - the peace of God. Have you experienced it? 

Healing Rain

Today I feel lead to share a journal entry from September 19, 2011. It describes a time when I strongly felt the presence of the Lord around me.

Sept 19, 2011

I am sitting outside on the front porch. The rain is gently falling, cleansing the earth. The summer was hot and dry. We had very little rain. I have learned to really appreciate the rain and be thankful for it. I am almost in awe of the gentle, soothing sound it makes as it hits the leaves and ground. The overcast sky with a fog-like mist adds to the peacefulness of the rain. I have never enjoyed the rain like I do now. I have missed the rain. I sense more than just rain. I feel like God is telling me that He is here, surrounding me with His love and peace as He gently cleanses away the filth of my sins. This same cleansing rain also serves as water that soaks into my roots, quenching my thirst for Him. This water provides the very life to my soul as well as my physical body. This water can only be provided by the Lord and it will sustain me forever - for eternity. The healing waters of the Lord wash over me and flow through me. The rain has picked up. It is coming down very hard now. The air is thick with rain and I can see it bouncing off the road in front of our house. I can feel it's mist on my body. I can hear it pouring off the roof, creating a stream on the ground.

The Lord is here and He will sustain me. He will fill me. He will quench my thirst. He will cleanse me. He renews me and makes me whole again. Without Him I am broken . . . I am nothing and can do nothing without Him. I will stand against the devil's schemes and put on the full armor of God. I will stand firm in faith. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 17:7-8:

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in Him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes:
its leaves are always green
It has no worries in the year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

I felt the Lord interacting with me that day as I sat on the porch enjoying the rain. I could feel Him drawing me near. I felt like God was the rain, comforting me and surrounding me with his cleansing presence. I feel like every one of God's children can experience him in this personal way. He wants to know us intimately. If you have never experienced the Lord in this way and long to have this kind of relationship with Him, get down on your knees and pray what is truly in your heart. When you are done praying, sit and listen for His response. You may be very surprised about what He has to say to you, I know I was. Don't be discouraged if you don't hear from the Lord. We all have our own unique gifts and He reveals Himself to us in different ways. If you regularly pray and listen from your heart, God will meet you there. Go and see where your journey takes you!
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