“I love to hike” shared the Pastor, “I enjoy the beauty, the quiet, the time alone with God and more. But there was on one occasion, a hike to Rainbow Falls, which really made an impression.
"Alone, I made my way on the trail past several smaller falls when I happened on a larger one which was quite impressive, but not quite the way the information leaflet depicted. A family with children were there and quite taken with the view; and asked me to take pictures of them in front of it. I obliged and we chatted a while until finally the family returned the way they came. I, however, continued further since the trail didn’t end. To my surprise only several hundred feet further was this incredible, breathtaking view. I had found Rainbow Falls!"
The family had made this incredible journey, yet stopped short of the goal and missed the key event. They gave up thinking they’d reached their destination. I wonder if we don’t do that sometimes in different areas of our lives. We focus so much on what we are doing or where we are going we completely miss the most exciting occurrence God puts in front of us. Because we are not tuning in on Him, we miss an incredible blessing.
Very often, life crowds out the beauty and plan God has for us because we are focused on paying the bills, taking care of loved ones, getting that degree, climbing the success ladder or any number of daily issues that overwhelm our day. We get so caught up in the “stuff” of life we don’t even take the time to commune with the God of the Universe. We neglect the most important and valuable resource available; God’s Almighty power.
When we take a moment to be quiet with Him, much like the hiker who gets lost in the quiet of the world around him on the trail, God can speak to us. Elijah was certain God would talk to him in the wind, fire or earthquake. But He didn’t. God spoke to him when things got quiet. (1 Kings 19) It’s when we are in these quiet times God can talk the clearest, because we aren’t overwhelmed with all the noises of the world.
It's hard sometimes to find quiet time with all the busy-ness of our days. If you are like me, when I cross one thing off my to do list I end up adding at least two more. I never get totally caught up! Some days I don't feel like I really have the time to just stop and be still with God. That is wrong however, and it takes great effort to discipline myself to just stop. When I do finally stop, the rewards are amazing. I leave our time together feeling like I've been wrapped in the arms of my Father. I am rejuvenated and feel whole, ready to face whatever crisis awaits me and welcome the blessings of the day. This makes taking the time worthwhile. It's when we are quiet we have the best view of God and can hear God the clearest. Isn't that what we really desire?
I challenge you this week to ….stop…. Stop for a while and just “visit” with our Creator. There is none who deserves our time more than He.
(Note: this picture is NOT Rainbow Falls!)
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