Silence and a Tear for You

3.16.2006

Spontaneity in the Lord--I love it! Instead of coming straight home last night I decided to call some peep in my HG, soon discovering that they were still in Austin at Justin's house. I scratched my original plan to go home and headed for Austin. God-given wisdom, power of the Holy Spirit, a listening ear, sweet prayer, much needed fellowship, and a closer look into the spiritual warfare...all of these things met me in the Gardner's home as I made a visit for the night. Thank you Lord for tending to my desire for spontaneity and moving mightily.

Home alone today I've had some refreshing time to myself. I find that I often need my alone time to reflect and think through things as well as journal, pray, and worship-- not to mention, dream and ponder the depths of life and my heart.

Silence filled the house. Sometimes silence must be. We fill ourselves with so much noise these days--whether it be conversation, internal chatter, t.v., music, or the business of others around us--there always seems to be cacophany. Appreciation of silence. I am truly a lover of music but one who most definitely appreciates the silence between notes. Sometimes that is what makes for a pivotal moment in a song: the drawn out silence, a brief break in the measure and chord, a moment to breathe or perhaps to hold your breath, a moment of expectancy and apprehension, suspension. These silences I appreciate in music I have come to love in life as well. Honestly. The silence gives opportunity for God to speak--not so much of me blabbing or tuning Him out because of all the distractions. Rather I can focus in on Him and hear what He is saying and conveying.

God works in mysterious ways, no doubt. May we never place God in a box (so cliche, I know). We do it all the time, though! We either believe Him to work in this one specific way or we don't have enough faith to believe Him at all. When we pray, He will move--just not always how we anticipate. // Our conversation became engrossingly intent and intense. My dad cried out with his hand held out, "One drop of water and I'll believe. That's all I ask for, one drop of water. Can you pray for that? One drop of water. If God's so powerful, then He can at least give me one drop of water." Tears rolled down my face and words came spilling out, "Dad, have my tears. That is your drop of water." // He couldn't see it. God did answer his prayer. Perhaps not a rain drop from the sky or a magic cloud inside our house, but He did give my dad that drop of water. May we not test God nor question His approach to answering our prayers. He does answer them, just not always in the way we expect. Hallelujah for that!

I've been reading about the spiritual warfare as of late...amazingly intense. Much of what we see resides on the surface. We must go deeper and see beyond, looking into the soul of someone and realizing his dire need for God. People are broken. The root lies in the spiritual. Great voids plague the heart of mankind. People are controlled by satan and his legions. To look past the person and to see the culprit behind the scenes is the beginning to understand the spiritual. Wars contend every second of the day and night--in the spiritual. May we not remain blind to the workings of God nor satan. Both are at work; however, One is greater than the other--AMEN! A great verse to go back to:

Ephesians
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.