Be still before God

Yesterday in my teaching, I mentioned that the question is not "is God speaking," but "are we listening"?

It's hard to listen when we are the ones doing all the talking.

It's hard to listen when we allow distractions all around us.

In Directions, James Hamilton writes:

"Before refrigerators, people used ice houses to preserve their food. Ice houses had thick walls, no windows, and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the ice houses, and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.

One man lost a valuable watch while working in an ice house. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn't find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile. A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the ice house during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch.

Amazed, the men asked him how he found it.

"I closed the door," the boy replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking."

So many truths, so many impressions from the Holy Spirit come to us in the quietness of our souls. Not moving around. Still. Quiet. Letting God speak.

I encourage you to practice that this day. It does take practice. It's not something we learn to do automatically.

"Be still," the Psalmist says, "and know that I am God." Psalms 46:10

Often the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still enough, and quiet enough, to hear.