Lent Devotional Day 7 - Wednesday 3/12/14 Never be in a hurry. Do not expect to hear Gods word immediately on your arrival in the desert.You must wait in silence. Your whole being should be in an attitude of listening. All other activities should be subordinated to the act of waiting for God. And God may speak through His word or through His silence. Alessandro Pronzato -The Desert, An Anthology for Lent (Amazon Kindle) John 15:5-8 (MSG) “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When youre joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you cant produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. Reflection: Waiting is difficult for us. Waiting in silence even more so. In many ways, we picture God as waiting for us to come to Him, and so He is. But that doesnt mean that as soon as we get there, He starts talking. In essence, God is waiting for us to wait for Him. Hes the master; were the slaves (theres that unpleasant word again,) not the other way around. Oh no, wed never think about God that way! Yet deep down we think He owes us something. What do we do when the answer doesnt come right away, or its not what we want? Do we patiently wait in grateful silence? Do we let God speak to us through His silence? In John 15, many translations use the word abide. Thats how I learned it. I like how the Message Bible translates it as joined. Abide sounds like something Im doing with God. Joined sounds like something that was done to me, by God. Granted, there are choices and actions on my part, but its more like I have to choose to get out, rather than in. A choosing to separate rather than choosing to join. God did the joining; its up to me to make myself at home there. Am I more at home waiting on God, or am I more comfortable serving Him? Formerly, I equated those two words, like restaurant waiters, now called servers; but I dont equate them any longer. Waiting on God is not synonymous with serving God. Its the waiting that prepares our hearts for the serving. During Lent, lets practice making ourselves at home in the silence of God. Waiting on Him. Prayer: God of silence, waiting is hard. Help me hear Your silence, and be at home there
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 05:46:22 +0000
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