This week has been a doozie. We went away for the weekend. Packing for four is never fun. We spent the weekend back in Chesapeake which was a fun, but emotional experience. Adam sprained his foot so I have had to wait on him. I had no help doing anything with the kids because Adam was incapacitated. Judah is home for the next 3 weeks on break so I am trying to find ways to keep him occupied. I then found out that because Adam couldn't drive I had to take him to Fayetteville to catch a ride to a conference he was supposed to go to. I had to rush to get laundry and more packing done so we could make that trip. So, Tuesday night I was laying in bed after midnight trying to do my bible study stuff for my Wed group, and I was tired. I was really enjoying the study material, but I had to put it down. I needed rest.
I turned off the light to go to sleep and that is when it happened. I became completely overwhelmed... not with the pressures of my week, but by God's love. I laid in bed and cried before the Lord thanking Him for his presence, and for being with me as I needed Him. It was an incredible experience. It didn't last long...maybe five minutes, but it renewed me, and I slept in the peace of the Lord and woke in the best mood I had been in...in a while. My bible study girls were probably wondering why I was humming and acting silly. I can honestly say it was that short, but wonderful encounter with God that changed me.
As I look back on that, just a few days later I can't help but wonder what made that night different than so many others. So many nights that I laid in bed exhausted by my circumstances, and it seemed God wasn't there. I know He is always there, but what made Him so real to me Tuesday night?
I really think it was the softness of my heart on that night. I had just re-read The Shack by William P. Young...that softened my heart and then my study material softened it even more. I was in a place where I was quiet enough I could hear His whisper. A lot of times we let our lives just drown out God's voice. We get so exhausted by our circumstances that we are to tired to take the time listen, but He is always there...waiting to renew our strength.
Folks, God is REAL. He isn't just some religious figure head we can cling to. His word is true. It isn't some history book filled with poetry and metaphors. He and His word are so much more. They are real! And they can be real to us in our every day lives. We so often get caught up in the day-to-day and forget to listen. We can get frustrated and even angry with God wondering where He is...but He is there all the time speaking to our hearts. The question is: are our hearts soft enough to listen? Or have they been hardened by life and schedule and exhaustion? The bigger question to me is how do we soften our hearts daily so we can hear Him? I think that is a question we all have to answer for ourselves, and I think the answer changes from time to time. Usually praise and worship music is what gets me to that point, but the other night it was His word. He has many ways to speak...we just have to find one way to listen....
I turned off the light to go to sleep and that is when it happened. I became completely overwhelmed... not with the pressures of my week, but by God's love. I laid in bed and cried before the Lord thanking Him for his presence, and for being with me as I needed Him. It was an incredible experience. It didn't last long...maybe five minutes, but it renewed me, and I slept in the peace of the Lord and woke in the best mood I had been in...in a while. My bible study girls were probably wondering why I was humming and acting silly. I can honestly say it was that short, but wonderful encounter with God that changed me.
As I look back on that, just a few days later I can't help but wonder what made that night different than so many others. So many nights that I laid in bed exhausted by my circumstances, and it seemed God wasn't there. I know He is always there, but what made Him so real to me Tuesday night?
I really think it was the softness of my heart on that night. I had just re-read The Shack by William P. Young...that softened my heart and then my study material softened it even more. I was in a place where I was quiet enough I could hear His whisper. A lot of times we let our lives just drown out God's voice. We get so exhausted by our circumstances that we are to tired to take the time listen, but He is always there...waiting to renew our strength.
Folks, God is REAL. He isn't just some religious figure head we can cling to. His word is true. It isn't some history book filled with poetry and metaphors. He and His word are so much more. They are real! And they can be real to us in our every day lives. We so often get caught up in the day-to-day and forget to listen. We can get frustrated and even angry with God wondering where He is...but He is there all the time speaking to our hearts. The question is: are our hearts soft enough to listen? Or have they been hardened by life and schedule and exhaustion? The bigger question to me is how do we soften our hearts daily so we can hear Him? I think that is a question we all have to answer for ourselves, and I think the answer changes from time to time. Usually praise and worship music is what gets me to that point, but the other night it was His word. He has many ways to speak...we just have to find one way to listen....
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