Silence is Love

 

 Silence is Golden!  I cannot tell you how many times that phrase has played over in my mind.  I have always believed that it was the nudge of the Holy Spirit that made me think those words, especially poignant when He knew that it was far better for me not to say anything at all than to “share” my words of wisdom.  We do not always have to say out loud everything that comes into our thoughts.  Yet, there are other times when the silence seems to be “deafening”, when the quiet does not necessarily bring solace, but a wanting for words.  For me, these times seem to be when our children come over to visit.  The house is filled with laughter and sharing of stories.  When they leave, it gets quiet and it tends to be a while before I become adjusted to our home without them in it.

Yet, there is a different silence that I have been reflecting upon lately.  A silence between people in relationships – marriages, friendships, etc.  There have been times when there have not been many words spoken between my husband and me.  There have also been times when there have not been words spoken between friends.  Have we run out of things to share?  Have our relationships become stagnant?  Upon my reflection, the answer is no.  Our relationships are complete.  We share thoughts without having to share words. 

Has this happened to you?  Maybe you are sitting with your partner, not saying a word, yet you know in your hearts you are thinking the same thing.   The immense love and caring can be heard in the silence.  Maybe you are having coffee with a friend and although no words are shared, a smile on your faces say that you understand.  I particularly remember a time when a dear friend, who would come over the day after I was going through chemo treatments.  She would graciously bring coffee and danish and sit with me.  I did not need to talk and neither did she.  Yet, those unspoken words were in our hearts – and I felt her caring. 

Today’s verse reminds me that our relationship with Jesus is golden silence.  He already knows what is in my heart.  He knows my thoughts; He knows my heart.  I find this part of God so completely comforting, especially when I just do not know what to say to Him anymore.  Maybe the weight of my sin is so great, words just cannot be found for confession.  God knows my heart – and the silence is love.  Maybe my constant requests seem complacent.  God knows my heart – and the silence is love.  Maybe I lost the words for the immense joy I feel, and I just cannot share my overwhelming thanks.  God knows my heart – and the silence is love.

God knows my heart – and the silence is love.  He knows the words in my mind and my soul.  He connects to me and loves me, and I can feel His peace.  Have the simple faith that He is always listening, even when our words are not spoken.  I am so incredibly grateful that God loves me when I do not have the words to share with him.  Due to his unconditional love for me, our relationship is complete.  He will never leave me or forsake me.  He will always have the words when I do not.

Heavenly Father, thank you for always listening to me, even when my words are not spoken.  Though I may be silent, I know that you are in my mind, heart, and soul and you hear exactly what I am trying to say.  Thank you, God!!

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

 

It got away from me.  Those best laid plans.  It seems there have been so many times in my life when I have taken two steps into my journey only to fall one step back.  I have the plan.  I laid it out.  I knew where I was headed.  Then the plans changed.  Certainly 2020 saw much of that in our lives.  Plans for family gatherings.  Plans for travel.  Plans for special dinners and big parties.  Yet, the year had different plans for us.

Those things can be disappointing, and they were for many of us.  The plans I am speaking of today are much bigger, much more impactful than disappointment.  They could be life changing.    Today I am speaking of those plans we make to rid ourselves of addictions.  Maybe it is an addiction to alcohol, or drugs or food.  We make plans of “doing the right thing”, we take the right steps forward and then something changes.  Two steps forward, one step back.

For me, it is taking a step forward in a healthy eating plan.  When I make a decision like that, I know the results will be life changing.  Yes, I hope to lose weight, but more importantly, I will feel better.  Aches and pains will go away.  I will have more energy.  I start down the path; I see the results and I gain momentum.  Then I do not take a step forward, I take a step back.  I make some poor choices.  I say, “just one” and it turns into two or three.  Two steps forward, one step back.  Unfortunately, that has happened on more than one occasion.  It can be disheartening.

We have all taken that one step back.  The good news is that there is someone waiting for us when we step back - Jesus!  He is waiting there for us, getting HIS plan ready for our steps forward.  With His grace, mercy and love waiting for us, he establishes the steps for us to get back on track.  His steps may involve a Bible verse we can hold close to us, a person that will help guide us or a situation that lets us know He is on our side.  Whatever that moment is that Jesus gives to us, let Him steer us into the right path – His path. We may have the right course – but Jesus’ steps will always prove to be the right direction.  His grace forgives us with our steps back and His love moves us with His steps forward.  Have simple faith that He is always there for you.

Dearest Jesus, thank you for always being there when I take a step back from a positive journey.  Help to turn my steps toward you – finding the right direction for me.  Give me the necessary steps in my life to begin my course again, with you by my side.  Amen!

Come Close

Sunday is my meal prep day.  It is the day where I take the freshly bought ingredients and make meals for the week.  The meals could be for others that may need a meal or for my family.  It is the day I plan what we will eat each day and ensure that those meals are prepared ahead of time – as much as I can – so mealtime is quick and easy.  Meal prep is clockwork.  Cut the vegetables and start cooking items in the oven and on the stove.  Plastic containers are laid out on the counter and filled accordingly.  Typically, two hours later, viola!  Meals are done.

This type of cooking for me tends to be one of necessity and not necessarily joy.  As much as I enjoy cooking, meal prep is a ‘means to an end’.  Meal prep is about getting it done.  As I was cooking today, I thought about that and when are the times that I really enjoyed cooking.  When I had time to really pick all the ingredients with care, and prepare the dishes without a timeline, I find I enjoy cooking immensely.  Into my thoughts walks, God.  “Really”, you say?

As I was thinking about cooking and meal prep versus enjoyment, it made me think about how I approach my time with God.  Do I use the quick and easy method, or do I spend that time in enjoyment?  I am sorry to say that not always do I approach my time with God in enjoyment.  I may be approaching my time as ‘something to get done’.  I am not proud to admit that, but the truth it is.  If my mornings are rushed, I may fly through my devotion without spending any time reflecting on the message.  I may say prayers on my way to work in the car, ensuring I cross everyone ‘off the list’, versus spending real time on the needs of each person.  I am sure God can find many more ways where my time with Him is not what HE is looking for.  What to do?

For me, the first step is always acknowledging when I may not be meeting God where He wants me to meet him.  Once acknowledged, it is then finding a verse that I can memorize, or at the very least, have close to me to remind me of God’s goodness.  I love our verse for today, “Come close to God and God will come close to you.”  I certainly want God’s closeness, but I need to do my part.  Maybe we get a verse front and center in sight.  Perhaps begin a prayer journal – a great way to see God working in the lives of others.  We can read devotions as if God is talking to us – Because He Is!!  Maybe step back and realize we do not need to do 3-4 devotions but dive deep into one well.  It is there that God will meet us!

Getting close to God can be done in so many ways.  Find what works for you.  Reflect on when you receive true joy in your time with Jesus.  Build those times into your day.  When we do, it will be like meal prep – having everything we need when we need it to nourish us! 

Heavenly Father help me to realize the joy I receive when I spend time with you.  Help me to see where I can get close to you, so you can get close to me!  I want to melt into your arms of safety when we are together and not check it off my list as done.  May I reflect on my time with you and hold close to it.  In your name I pray.  Amen.

Light in Darkness

                                        

 New Years – they tend to bring a host of emotions with them.  Many times, we view them as newness – new goals to achieve, new destinations to see, new relationships to build.  Other times, we view them as reflection points – how have I traveled to this point in my life and where do I go from here.  At times, we are closing chapters on previous experiences and moving forward with hope.  This year, as I have chatted with people and read different articles, it seems as if people have incorporated all of these situations into 2021.

Yet, as we have moved into 2021, in the short ten days we have had, we have seen much despair.  We have seen sickness and death.  We have seen anger and disappointment.  We have seen much darkness.  It has created a sense of hopelessness and despondency.  Instead of people being excited about a new year, it seems as if people are already writing off 2021.

I thought about other dark times, in recent history and certainly throughout history in general.  I went to the only place I can go to find light among the darkness.  As I thumbed through the pages of the Bible, I saw time and time again where darkness had plagued the earth – only to have God shine his light through it.  People in the Bible who had dark times – and God shining his light through them.  I find it amazing how God take those times in our lives, as far back as Biblical times, and shows his goodness.  Where there is despair, there is hope – hope through God.

People ask the question, “Where is God; Where is the light that we need now?”  It is in all of us.  Those who believe carry the Holy Spirit with them – God in each of us.  Therefore, when we are constantly looking around us for the light, we need only to look within ourselves and others.  Seek the light and not the darkness.  How do we do that?

We become the light that people need.  We shine God’s goodness wherever we go and in whatever we do.  We let the Holy Spirit fill our lives so that we can fill the lives of others.  The “big” things are great – missionary trips, careers in the faith, large donations.  Yet, I passionately believe our light shines brightest in the “little” things in life.  The kind smile, the note of encouragement, a prayer said for another, a meal made in love.

Life on this earth is short – our eternal life awaits us.  There is much around us that can bring us to darkness.  Anxiousness and a sense of overwhelming negativity can be seen.  These are the things that are around us – they are not US!  God is with us, each moment of each day.  May He be seen in you and through you.  During times like these I am reminded of the children’s song, “This Little Light of Mine”.  Let your light shine!  Let your hope shine!  Let God shine!

Dearest God, so much around us is darkness right now.  It may be difficult to see good.  Yet, we know that you are good God, all the time.  Help us to be the light that people need to see now.  Help us to shine the Holy Spirit that is in us to all that need to see it.  In your bright and shining name I pray – Amen!

Scared to Start

 

 The New Year.  So often through 2020, I heard people stating, “I can’t wait until 2021 gets here!”  Certainly, after much tribulation and challenges throughout 2020, many folks were waiting for the calendar to turn in hopes of a different 2021, a time for us to “restart” in life.  Reflecting on this, I thought about the restarts I have had in my life.  What was it like to restart?  Did it turn out the way I envisioned it would?  Was it completely different or much of the same?  The common theme I noticed was that in almost every restart, I was scared – scared to start again.

 Some of the major challenges in my life have come with restarts.  Cancer certainly was one of them.  After almost a year of diagnostic tests, surgery, chemo, radiation, etc., I thought I was on my way to success – a life without any worry of cancer.  I even took tamoxifen for five years for additional security of that!  It was day “five years plus one” that I became scared.  Why?  Because on that day, I did everything I possibly could do stay healthy – now it was out of my hands.

 I remember when I changed jobs.  I had been working at one organization for 15 years.  I had grown through this company, not only professionally, but personally.  I gained friends; I shared heartache; I had the security of knowing what I was doing within the framework of that company culture.  For many reasons, I searched for something new.  On that day when I said “yes” to a new job – a new organization – I became scared.  Why?  Because on that day, I did everything I possibly could to find a company where I could contribute – now it was out of my hands of decision making.

 Probably the greatest challenge came when I got divorced.  After many years of a difficult relationship, steps were taken to close that chapter in my life.  As challenging as those years were, at least I knew what to expect.   I knew the good and the bad of those days.  On that day when the judge declared us divorced – I became scared.  Why?  Through all the planning I had done to ensure financial security for my children, was it enough?  Had the right decisions been made?  Now life moving forward would be different and out of my hands.

 The common theme of being scared to start again came with one security that is truly out of my hands.  It is what is in God’s hands.  By reflecting upon each of those situations (and in so many more), I realized that although I was scared to start, there was One who was ready to take my fear and give me faith, simple faith.  My dear God was there to hold me in his hands, as long as I trusted Him in every situation.  By giving my fear to God, my soul became whole.  By giving my fear to God, I went from scared to strong!  Through simple faith in his salvation and unconditional love, I found peace.  I pray as we start 2021, our fears are turned into trust and faith, in the only One who can truly provide both for us – God.

 Heavenly Father, thank you for letting us come to you when we are scared to start something new.  Help us to trust you and have simple faith that you are who you say you are – my Savior.  Guide me from scared to certainty!  In your saving name we pray.  Amen.