Daily Light - March 28, 2011

Daily Light from the Lighthouse

"Sit here while I pray...Stay here and watch."

Mark 14:32, 34

The most difficult thing for many to do is to stay still. In a recent discipleship program a group of people were given a challenge each week to deepen their Christian walk. Some of the challenges were things such as memorizing Scripture, praying for specific areas, etc. Many saw the benefit in these challenges and took advantage of them by throwing themselves completely into the task. Once it was done they felt rewarded for the effort and time that they had put into it.

The same group however was challenged to spend ten minutes a day for one week and do nothing but concentrate on God and listen for Him in their lives. It seems like a fairly simple challenge on the surface, but the reality was much different than many expected. Most found it impossible to accomplish the task that they were given. They found that they were easily distracted during those ten minutes. Others felt that they were wasting time just sitting there and doing nothing. The other challenges where they were doing something took much more than ten minutes, but they were busy and therefore accomplishing something. What are you accomplishing by sitting still?

How greatly we need to realize that God is not looking for people that are "busy"! Instead, He is looking for people that are focused completely on Him. The reason we feel better when we do something is because we believe that life is all about us. We want to feel good about ourselves; we want to feel successful and industrious. We think that we are more useful to God and our fellow man if we are laboring every waking moment of the day.

Unfortunately, we are missing a time of intimacy with God that is vital to our walk with Him and our understanding of Him. God Himself says to us in Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God." We cannot really know Him until we come into that place with Him of uninterrupted communion. Much of our life will naturally be busy, so it is even more important that we learn to stop and breathe in the fresh air of God's presence. In the quiet of your day get to know God better than you ever have before. Spend time with that Friend that sticks closer than a brother.