Like Air and Water

Every morning, I carve out the first part of my day to spend alone with God.  I've actually had people tell me how good I am to do this...as if I'm doing some good deed.  It would be like someone inheriting $1 billion and another person saying, "That is nice of you to accept that money."  And this alone time with my Father is worth far, far more than any amount of money.  It is a deliciously sweet time of conversation.  And here is what most people miss: it is a time when God reveals His secrets, His plans, His very specific Will for that day or season.  The only one who can find a diamond is the one who is searching in the mine. 

These pages have wisdom, comfort, instruction.  But, deeper still, they have very specific direction for ME.  If I'm facing a crisis or if I simply need to know something specific for my life, I can ask God and then open His Word in expectation.  It's by far one of the most mysterious and wonderful things I've ever experienced.  HE DOES STILL SPEAK if we have ears to listen.  I can ask Him if I'm supposed to have a chiropractor appointment today or tomorrow.  Do you think He cares about those details?  His Word says He cares about all the details of our lives, and it says if we come to Him for wisdom (and EXPECT Him to answer), He will give it to us.  So, why would I want His answer about a ridiculous appointment?  He may have someone at the chiropractor's office that He wants me to talk to today, so He will lead me in that direction specifically.  He may want me home to receive a certain phone call from someone who desperately needs encouragement, so He will lead me in that direction.

This book is powerful, and it absolutely baffles me why anyone would begin their day without digging into it.

So, you won't find a Scripture that says, "You shall go to the chiropractor on September 20."  So, how do I know His direction?  It comes from an ongoing conversation with God.  I speak to Him all the time, and I have learned to be quiet enough to hear Him.  When I need to know His direction for a decision or my day, I simply ask Him to give it to me...and then I wait in expectation.  Sometimes it will be in a Scripture passage I will read, and His Spirit opens my spiritual eyes to see His answer in the text, even if it's a chapter I've read 100 times before.  Do you really believe that the Bible is a LIVING BOOK?  It is.

His answers also come from my being aware of things all around me.  At times, He has given me an amazing truth when I watched a spider building a web or when a yellow jacket was intimidating me.  In those moments, it's as if He opens my spiritual eyes, and I see something deeper than what I'd see with my physical eyes.  It's a quiet, "Look at this" that I hear deep in my spirit that makes me stop to see something He wants me to see.  Once, when my soul was wrestling so fiercely about something (almost threatening to derail my entire day), I watched a large bird flying very high above.  His wings weren't flapping, but he was gliding on the wind.  We had studied this in zoology, but that day, He opened my eyes to see it through spiritual eyes instead of physical eyes.  As I looked at that bird, and the quiet stillness surrounded me, I heard in my spirit, "Be still and know that I am God.  Those that wait upon Me will soar with wings like eagles."  His Words from the Bible that I had hidden in my heart by constant reading and digging in His Word was brought to the surface in my spirit.  HE WAS SPEAKING.  All the restlessness settled, and peace bathed me.  I could walk into my day without letting my wrestling spirit ruin my day.

These are the things that you cannot touch with your fingers...the invisible things that come only to a heart fixed on their God.  The rush of this world, the schedules, the classes, the workplace, the ongoing churning of daily routine can make the still quiet voice muffled if we aren't stopping purposely (and often) to hear Him.

I cannot imagine starting any day without dipping into this never-ending river of wisdom...not just general wisdom but also very specific direction meant just for me that day.  Walking into any day and into any decision without this guide would be unthinkable.

You don't have to make me drink water when I'm thirsty, and you don't have to remind me to take a breath of air into my lungs...it's simply necessary for life.  His Word is more necessary that air and water to me.  And to you too.