The roar of the waterfall

I

Psalm 42

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    ‘Where is your God?’
⁴ These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Saviour and my God.

⁶ My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon – from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.

⁸ By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me –
    a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock,
    ‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?’
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    ‘Where is your God?’

¹¹ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Saviour and my God.

(NIV 2011) 

There is something about the sound of water, whether it be the roar of a waterfall, a babbling brook or the waves crashing against the shore. I have been drawn to the sounds of God's creation of late, the sounds that can be so easily passed over. In the quietness of the morning the pitter patter of rain on the window pane seems to sing a different song than it does when you are running for the car on a wet afternoon. On mornings where it hasn't been raining, they have been few and far between of late in the UK, the dawn chorus breaks through the stillness as the darkness as night turns to day. A different song is sung again by the wind at night as it rustles through the trees and whistles through the valleys. Each song is beautiful in its own right. Each has its own mood as every song has, although perhaps the song we hear depends on our own mood? God speaks loud and clear in so many ways through creation and it's many songs. God continues to speak to us, and reassure us even when we fail to stop and listen. He speaks through the songs of creation even when we sleep.

Comic capers, superheros, and God

I loved comics as a kid and would eagerly await with anticipation for my weekly Beano and Dandy comics to arrive. It didn't take me long to grow out of reading Twinkle and Rupert Bear in favour of something with a little more action and, pardon the pun, some comic relief. I must admit to getting fed up of Desperate Dan and his cow pies and replacing him with Bananaman and the aptly named Nutty comic. Maybe I was enticed by the free packet of Space Dust? The first issue came out 16th February 1980 but it seems like only yesterday, such was my excitement of my new comic. I still have some back-copies somewhere. Should I have admitted that? I should perhaps point out, Space Dust was popping candy that crackled and made your tongue tingle. I loved my comics and think I was in love with Denis the Menace. I also loved Saturday morning TV. The caped crusaders, alias Batman and Robin, battling numerous villains: the Penguin, the Riddler, the Joker, and my personal favourite Catwoman. Saturday viewing however, was not complete without Zorro. OK maybe he wasn't a Superhero, although he did wear a cape, but he was my hero. You just can't beat a good sword fight!

When not reading comics, or watching children's TV, I would be roaming the streets and fields where we lived. On rainy days I would draw cartoon characters or read. I inherited some children's encyclopedia from my older brother. The set was bookended by an illustrated Bible and a book of paintings. I loved both. There was also an atlas. Atlas may have had the world on his shoulders and I may have lugged said book around on my shoulders during my secondary school years but alas my geographical knowledge is almost non-existent. I just wasn't interested. We are all inspired by different things. What grabs one persons interest bores the next. We are all different and it would be a boring world if we weren't. I was out walking the other day, OK maybe more of a gentle stroll, and came across a certain Superhero. My husband completely missed him, but then he dislikes anything science fiction. How can you miss Spider-Man? Its not everyday you come face to face with a Superhero!

There is so much around us that we miss in our hurry to get things done. Perhaps we think we are a Superhero and can cope? Wearing your pants over your tights is never a good look, especially in public. Thinking we are Superman or Wonderwoman is not healthy. Even God took a rest on the seventh day and yet we so often ignore our own needs for a Sabbath (Gen 2:2-3; Ex 20:8-11; Lev 19:30, 23:3; Deut 5:12; Jer 17: 24). Thankfully God never takes a holiday but us mere mortals certainly need one. I know I do. Still we continue racing around like the Bionic Man or woman. If we are not careful we miss the things that God wants to show us. It might be Spider-Man stuck up a tree reminding us we are not a Superhero. It might be the catkins that look so delicate and beautiful glistening in the sun as a reminder of spring and a new season in our life. It might be the ripples of the water reminding us that our actions effect other people and the world around us. Or perhaps that Gods love reaches out to all.

Stop rushing around and relax. Take a stroll. Go feed the ducks. Remember there is bread for all.

'I am the bread of life,' Jesus told them. 'Those who come to me will never go hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty.' John 6:35 GNB

How do you listen to God?

How do you listen to God? 

As I thought about the subject of listening to God I could not help but think about Adam and Eve. 

Genesis 3:8-9 When the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 

Adam and Eve did not seem to have a problem in listening to God in the Garden of Eden. They heard him walking in the garden. I wonder if he was singing a tune or whether he was just rustling some leaves as he walked? They hid from him because they were naked and yet God knew that they were there. There is no hiding from God and there is no hiding our sins (the things we do wrong) from him. He already knows what they are. People say they cannot hear God but I wonder if they are blocking him out or perhaps, like Adam and Eve, trying to hid from him? Perhaps we have just forgotten how to listen to him? Or are too noisy or to busy rushing around to stop and listen to the sound of God?

For me God is in the incidentals of life and in the things we so often can miss. He speaks to us through the majesty of creation, through the cry of a baby, and in the vastness of the ocean. He speaks to us in the quietness and stillness of the morning. He speaks to us in the crash of thunder and the roar of a waterfall. He speaks to us through our friends who encourage us and offer a helping hand (Prov 11:14, Mat 18:16). He speaks to us through the preacher on a Sunday morning. Through scripture (2 Tim 3:16-17), and through the pounding of our heart beat as the Holy Spirit prompts us (Heb 8:10-11). He speaks to us through the still small voice, as well as through prophecy, dreams, and visions (Act 2:17-18). God talks to us in so many ways and yet we fail to hear. 

What has he been trying to tell you today? Take a moment to sit quietly and listen. Do you hear him?

 

Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

 

Listening

How do you know that you are truely listening to God?  Recently I really felt that God was directing me in a certain direction but alas the door was closed.  I am left pondering as to whether I did actually hear what God was saying or not.  Is this just all part of his plan and part of my journey in life or was His will stopped in its tracks?  I am convinced that discerning God's voice is a corporate thing and that together as the church body we seek out HIs will but what if the body gets it wrong?  I guess we are all infallible individuals and churches are made up of infallible people so it is not surprising we get it wrong on occasion.  I am sure it grieves God when we don't walk in His will and go off on our own agendas and I am thankful that He is a God of grace who forgives us when we make mistakes and ask for His forgiveness.


My hope is in a God who knows my deepest thoughts and fears and who shelters me under His wing in times of trouble.  I am blessed to have many lovely people who are praying for me and in these last few weeks I have felt at peace.  At peace that no matter how events turn out God is with me and feels my pain because it is part of His pain too.  At peace because God knows how expectant I am and how excitted I am to follow Him.  At peace because I journey on the road that Christ journeys.