FOCUS on THE POWER AND PRESENCE of GOD in MY LIFE,
I have been spending quite a bit of time in "My Secret Place". So I've become a little bit of a "house mouse". My Secret Place with God is primarily my living room. It's there, that I have privacy to pray, to study the Word of God, to read, to worship... even to dance, should I get a little excited!
Where in the past I've found myself drawn outside the doors of my home for one reason or another, now I am finding myself continually wooed into my living room... to seek him more.
I had an early appointment this morning, so I was up and out the door... wearing my RED shoes, of course. It was about 1:30 before I was finally free, so I stopped by a little diner for a bite to eat. I pulled up a chair at the lunch bar and pulled out a book I just started reading entitled, "Welcome Holy Spirit". (How appropriate, don't you think?)
The author uses an example given by Dennis Bennett, an Episcopal priest, who shares a story comparing the Holy Spirit to a Guest who comes to your home:
"While you are in the kitchen preparing refreshments, Bennett said, your guest sits quietly in your living room waiting for you to come and talk with Him. He doesn't barge into your kitchen and say, "I am waiting for you." Instead, he may wait for hours until you sit down and talk with him. He is a total Gentleman and does not force Himself on anyone. The Holy Spirit is just such a Gentelman. He will not intrude into our lives or force His presence upon us. But He will stay ever so close to those who desire His company".
So I've heard many renditions of that story over my almost 30 years as a Christian. And I've always agreed wholeheartedly with what it has to say. And I've always felt that was exactly what I was doing. But... for some reason, reading it this time, in that little diner, was different. Tears welled up in my eyes. A heaviness rested on my chest.
How many times did I invite the Holy Spirit to come into my house
and leave him waiting in the living room of my heart?
Of course it was always with good intention and great expectation, yet for whatever reason, ( and there are many, I'm sure), I wandered off to the kitchen and forgot to come back.
All this time, I've had Access to HIM,
and somehow found myself focusing on menial things,
that now I can't even remember.
Sound familiar? Isn't it like Dorothy, who could have gone home on Day 1, but never thought to focus on those Ruby Slippers? to figure them out? to look into them deeper? She went through that entire journey -- And yes, there were great take-aways -- BUT what she was seeking was right there on her feet. And she never stopped to just focus on the SHOES!
Now I wasn't worried about people seeing the RED shoes on my feet... that was nothing in comparison to the woman at the lunch bar who's heart was exploding with grief. If I rubbed away my tears, my mascara would run and I look like a raccoon. Not to mention that if it turned out to be a never ending waterspout of tears, I'd have a red nose and red eyes to match my red footwear! Somehow I held it together, temporarily, until I got to my car, called a friend, and prayed it all out.
(Am I repenting again, already? And I thought this project was just about a blog!)
You know, I can't change what I did yesterday...
let alone what I've done in 30 years of yesterdays,
but I can change Today.
The Bible says, "There's a time for everything". (Ecclesiastes 3:1) And NOW just happens to be My Time. My time to stop and look down at my feet and inquire about the Red Shoes... To ask, "Just how do these Red Shoes work, anyway"? And to sit down and examine them. To turn them around and upside down. To figure out what I'm missing. To read the directions... over an over, if I have to.
I'm not leaving this place, or this project, until I "get it"... until I "get Him"! Until I understand Him so well that I can walk in true partnership with Him.
Thanks for taking this journey with me!
Gail
