Devotion for today: God, speak to me

Scripture for meditation: Psalm 104:1-4
Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord, my God, you are great indeed! You are clothed with majesty and glory, robed in light as with a cloak. You spread out the heavens like a tent; you raised your palace upon the waters. You make the clouds your chariot; you travel on the wings of the wind. You make the winds your messenger; flaming fire, your ministers.

A passage from the book “Good Leaders, Good Shepherds”: As Frank opened his eyes to start recording his thoughts in his notepad, he noticed a doe and her fawn in the meadow. The mother was peacefully grazing as the spotted fawn played awkwardly around her, chasing an odd butterfly here and there and exploring the different flowers that bloomed in the morning sun. The doe looked up at him and froze for a moment as Frank slowly turned to a blank page. Once she realized he was staying where he was and doing his own thing, she casually resumed her grazing. The scene reminded Frank of something he had read and then memorized in high school. He replayed the words in his mind as he had done at least a thousand times before:

A man whispered, “God, speak to me.”

And a meadowlark sang, but the man did not hear.
So the man yelled, “God, speak to me.”
And thunder rolled across the sky, but the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said, “God, let me see you.”
And a star shined brightly, but the man did not notice.
And the man shouted, “God, show me a miracle!”
And a life was born, but the man did not know.
So the man cried out in despair, “Touch me, God, and let me know you are here!”
Whereupon God reached down and touched the man,
But the man brushed away the butterfly and walked on.  Author unknown.

As Frank reflected on these words, a powerful feeling overwhelmed him….he felt as though his entire being radiated with a grace so pure that he could have disintegrated into the world around him. God is present in me…too! With a flood of emotion he suddenly realized he was developing an entirely new appreciation for God’s statement to Moses in the book of Exodus: “Fear not, for I shall be with you.”(Good Leaders, Good Shepherds, by Dick Lyles, Tim Flanagan, Susan Fowler, and Drea Zagarmi, Ascension Press, 2007).

Prayer: Dear Father, hear and bless
Thy beasts and singing birds:
And guard with tenderness
Small things that have no words. http://www.beliefnet.com/Prayers/Christian/Parenting/Childs-Prayer.aspx

My thoughts: I was sitting on my back porch the other day and my heart was filled with many worries. “Dear God,” I prayed, “I know you are always present in my life, but sometimes I feel that You are so far away. Are you really here?” My back yard faces the woods, and then a small trail, so I am literally surrounded by nature. Suddenly a doe and her fawn appeared in my backyard and began to eat my hostice plants. They were so sweet and peaceful, so unafraid. I thought of the above passage I had just read in the book, “Good Leaders, Good Shepherds” and it made me wonder how many times God was speaking to me in the wonders of His universe, and I never bothered to see or hear his voice. Why not take time to just sit outside today, and watch God’s miracles unfold. You will surely believe the words, “Be still, and know that I am with you.”