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Such a sound, this roaring water of God

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Luke 1:45
Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.

About faith Dwight Moody wrote, "Faith is the gift of God. So is the air, but you have to breathe it; so is bread, but you have to eat it; so is water, but you have to drink it."

My morning usually includes breathing, eating and drinking. During the night I have been breathing (Margaret says she hears me breathe, nicely avoiding the snore word), but I have no idea. Even right now I'm not conscious of my breathing. It just happens, several times a minute.

That kind of unconscious, even involuntary trust is exactly what God wants from me. David, let me give you breath. Let me give you the bread you need, and the drink you need. I am your source. Why do you strive to get ahead, when all you're doing is getting ahead of me. Let me lead you.

When Gabriel told Mary about her extraordinary pregnancy, she asked, "How can this be?" After he answered her she said simply, "May it be unto me as you have said." And she hastened to the hills, to her Auntie Elizabeth's house, feeling her way with her faith.

How does Mary know what to do and where to go? In a sense, by making herself intentionally blind. "May it be done unto me." She won't know God is leading her unless she lets him. Neither will I.

So I must stop a bit and listen. Listen for the sound of silence, the sound of God inside and outside, all around me. Whispering his will. Sometimes it roars like a waterfall, sometimes it is just a wisp of silent spring.

Listen a little longer to the Advent songs, and let them soak right in. "O come, o come Emmanuel."

Read a single verse of the Bible a few times out loud, and wait for what God wants to say - through my mind, through my imagination, through his words. "I thank my God every time I think of you." Philippians 1. Say it over a few times. What do I hear?

Let all these things I'm reading ... read me.

Advent. This is our time to learn the art of waiting.

The breathing you teach us from the moment we are born - we can use that breath to bless, to curse, to repent, to bless again. And let me sing, Lord, let me hear the rise and fall of the voice which you have given me. Let praise and joy rise into the front of my mind. Come, Lord Jesus.



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