Sitting at His feet

Still Again

Why is it, I wonder, that whenever I return from a trip abroad, I get a head cold? I never get it when I arrive, but sure as eggs is eggs, I arrive back home with one. I know the symptoms. I come against it in Jesus Name. I refuse to receive it. Yet still it attaches itself and I have to stay indoors for a couple of days while over-the-counter medications kill it off again. Apart from colds, I am usually quite healthy. I rarely go to see the doctor – maybe once or twice a year – sometimes not for over a year. So why is this allowed to happen to me? I put it that way because I believe God allows it for His purposes.

I believe that His purpose is to cause me to be still for a short time. Enough time for Him to get my attention and to get me to focus on Him and on Him alone. Forget the snuffling and sneezing – there have been some wonderful moments when I manage to stay still long enough to really focus on God. Moments like April/May 2010 when I realised that He did indeed have another wife for me and that my lonely days were over. Moments like earlier this year when He birthed something new in me/us and in my/our ministry.

There have been, and still are, quieter moments too. Times of simple quiet communion when I just sit still at His feet and simply enjoy the warmth of His love. This is when He reminds me of one of my favourite verses of scripture. Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”(NKJV) The Message Bible puts it this way – Psalm 46:8-10 (MSG) “Attention, all! See the marvels of God! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth, Bans war from pole to pole, breaks all the weapons across his knee.
"Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything." What great words they are – ‘Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God’. They paint such a vivid picture of everyday life – step out of the traffic and look at the Lord your God and Heavenly Father; and at Jesus Christ, your Saviour; and at Holy Spirit, your teacher, comforter and friend.

What joy there is in surrendering yourself and losing yourself in Him. What peace in knowing that, in His company, there is neither time nor space – no restrictions – only eternity, joy, and love. It is during these moments; moments spent listening to His heartbeat so that your heart may come into alignment with His; that we truly die to self and start to live in and through Him. It is at this time that we ‘die and fall to the ground’ that we might grow and produce good fruit for His Kingdom.

Oh Lord, cause me to be still more often. Cause me to stop amid life’s hustle and bustle and look at you. Help me to die to myself and my desires and to live to your desires and the plan you have for my life.

Without the need for a head cold please, yet not my will but yours be done Lord.