It is my habit to get up two hours before my house comes alive to keep a morning appointment with God. Early morning is the only time of day when I am free of the constant flow of questions associated with a busy household, “Mom, what’s for breakfast?”, “Did you wash my shirt?”, and the yapping of my dog Barney wanting attention. I have always heard “silence is golden”, but in my house, silence is nonexistent!
At five o’clock in the morning, the two -legged inhabitants sleep peacefully, but those with four legs are well-aware I am up and moving around. Patches, Pepper, and Lucy eagerly await their breakfast. I find filling their tummies, helps them quietly settle down for a nap. I too settle down with a cup of peppermint tea, my Bible, and Lucy nearby watching my every move and occasionally nudging me to stroke her back.
I am challenged today to listen for God to speak in the silence. So, I “unplug” - no music, no TV, no phone. As I sit in the quiet and try to concentrate, listening for God’s voice – the voice that speaks to me in my heart – I realize there is no silence in my world. I can hear the continuous hum of the refrigerator, traffic sounds outside my window, and the train horn blowing at every intersection. Listening intently, I also hear the birds singing, the music of the chimes, and Lucy’s soft purr as I absently stroke her back. All the while, I listen for God’s voice, waiting for Him to speak.
With eyes closed, listening intently, I realize God is speaking to me with each sound in the silence. The sweet birdsongs remind me He is my creator.
"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness'" Genesis 1:26a
Each note of the chimes reminds me God is at work in my world through each of us who are born of Him.
"The wind blows wherever it pleases, You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8
The hum of the refrigerator reminds me He is my provider, my needs are met.
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
The sounds of traffic and the train horn remind me I am not alone in His world. And He has given me the command, no, the privilege, to share His love with my world.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
And in the quiet of the morning, my sweet Lucy’s purr reminds me of my heavenly Father’s love.
"For God so loved the world [me], that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
Like Lucy, I enjoy the quiet of the morning with my heavenly Father who has provided the sounds in the silence to remind me I am His daughter and He is my Father.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13
My precious quiet moments with God have ended as my house awakens, and my ears are filled with doors opening and closing, water running, and the not so soft voices of my family greeting the morning. I pray I will listen carefully for God’s voice in the sounds of the busy day ahead.
He is always speaking.
Let me always be listening.
By: Patsy Forrest