Come Away

Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. (Matthew 6:6)

Recently on You Tube I watched a sermon series by Henri Nouwen titled "Being the Beloved". One of the things he spoke of in his sermon was the need to be still, to be quiet, to be in "communion" with God. He challenged the audience to spend just ten minutes each day creating space in their lives by doing nothing.

Illness has a way of crowding into our lives. Our schedule revolves around doctors' appointments and medical tests. It has upended our normal routine. Each day we arise not knowing how we will feel, what kind of day we will have. We find ourselves thinking a lot about our illness. The day is often stolen from us before we know it. Many nights we go to bed with the realization that our day was consumed from sun up to sun down and we did not spend a single moment being still, being quiet.

What was so beautiful about Henri's message was its simplicity. It is so simple that we almost miss it! Spend ten minutes doing nothing in order to create a space for God. Space that is not crowded out by our thoughts, by outside media, by what we are reading, by how we are feeling. Life often clamors for our attention. What would change in our lives if we took ten minutes each day to simply be still?

...come away to a quiet place and get some rest...be still...let the world fall away and fall into the arms of God...

grace and peace...