Master of the Obvious
“Days that begin with God are better than days that do not.”
Some will recognize this as the current subtitle for Nathan’s blog. Some will also be thinking, “No stinking duh.” Yes, the statement is an obvious truth. The only difficulty with obvious things is that we rarely pay attention to them… This, I am sorry to say, was my own personal situation a week or so ago.
I had arrived in Latvia and mostly settled into my new situation. Nevertheless, when I was quiet – when I was alone in my apartment doing nothing in particular or before I went to sleep or when I was bored at work – there was a nagging feeling that something was just not right. Peace and joy were not mine in their accustomed quantities. At first, I chalked it up to my new situation… then to uncontrolled emotions… but the unnamable dissatisfaction simply wouldn’t go away. In fact, it grew more irksome. So I ignored it as best I could. But God (how many episodes in my life begin with those two words?)… He is a hard Person to ignore – He doesn’t like it. Having allowed me to flounder about on my own long enough for the lesson to sink in, He showed me what I was looking for…
About the time that I moved to the hotel, I finished up Starship Troopers and picked up the next book in the queue, a book I’d tossed in at the last moment because I’d always meant to read it and never gotten ‘round to it: Wild at Heart, by John Eldrege. Yes, it’s written mostly for men, but like most true things, it has general applicability. For those of you who haven’t read it, it’s got this exhortation/devotional tone going on – good stuff, highly recommended by me :). As I began to read it every night before I went to bed, I at first simply enjoyed it. It was the evening that I flipped off the TV so that I could read a couple extra chapters that it dawned on me, “This is helping to assuage that ache. That’s why you’re enjoying it so much.” Aha! I was pleased and felt myself nearer the solution of my own personal mystery. It next occurred to me that the answer had, the whole time, been in very plain sight (which was rather peevesome). “Days that begin with God are better than days that do not.” My days had not begun with God, nor had they really included Him in a significant way in the middle or at the end. Generally, my life has a schedule attached (be it for work or school) and somewhere in that schedule is time devoted to meditation on/worship of/communion with God, through His Word. But here, for whatever the reason, that very important point had been overlooked.
So, I decided to run an experiment. I would read whatever book was next on the list in the evening, as normal (I’m now in the beginning of Williams’s Descent into Hell). After that, I would read some passage or another of Scripture before going to bed. Also, I set my Outlook calendar at work to alert me at 10 o’clock each day (I’ve always liked that time for chapel at school) so that I could just sit back, take a deep breath, and re-align my thoughts. Life is often quiet around that time of the morning, so no one minds if I help myself to a psalm or a chapter of an epistle from Bible Gateway also.
The results of said experiment were, of course, far from surprising. I had peace and joy; I was content and grounded; wisdom and strength were there for the taking. I was, in short, very conscious of the presence of God…. And I still am – all because He drew my attention to that very obvious yet ignored truth. My only hope is that don’t forget it any time soon :).
“I have set the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.”
Psalm 16:8
Some will recognize this as the current subtitle for Nathan’s blog. Some will also be thinking, “No stinking duh.” Yes, the statement is an obvious truth. The only difficulty with obvious things is that we rarely pay attention to them… This, I am sorry to say, was my own personal situation a week or so ago.
I had arrived in Latvia and mostly settled into my new situation. Nevertheless, when I was quiet – when I was alone in my apartment doing nothing in particular or before I went to sleep or when I was bored at work – there was a nagging feeling that something was just not right. Peace and joy were not mine in their accustomed quantities. At first, I chalked it up to my new situation… then to uncontrolled emotions… but the unnamable dissatisfaction simply wouldn’t go away. In fact, it grew more irksome. So I ignored it as best I could. But God (how many episodes in my life begin with those two words?)… He is a hard Person to ignore – He doesn’t like it. Having allowed me to flounder about on my own long enough for the lesson to sink in, He showed me what I was looking for…
About the time that I moved to the hotel, I finished up Starship Troopers and picked up the next book in the queue, a book I’d tossed in at the last moment because I’d always meant to read it and never gotten ‘round to it: Wild at Heart, by John Eldrege. Yes, it’s written mostly for men, but like most true things, it has general applicability. For those of you who haven’t read it, it’s got this exhortation/devotional tone going on – good stuff, highly recommended by me :). As I began to read it every night before I went to bed, I at first simply enjoyed it. It was the evening that I flipped off the TV so that I could read a couple extra chapters that it dawned on me, “This is helping to assuage that ache. That’s why you’re enjoying it so much.” Aha! I was pleased and felt myself nearer the solution of my own personal mystery. It next occurred to me that the answer had, the whole time, been in very plain sight (which was rather peevesome). “Days that begin with God are better than days that do not.” My days had not begun with God, nor had they really included Him in a significant way in the middle or at the end. Generally, my life has a schedule attached (be it for work or school) and somewhere in that schedule is time devoted to meditation on/worship of/communion with God, through His Word. But here, for whatever the reason, that very important point had been overlooked.
So, I decided to run an experiment. I would read whatever book was next on the list in the evening, as normal (I’m now in the beginning of Williams’s Descent into Hell). After that, I would read some passage or another of Scripture before going to bed. Also, I set my Outlook calendar at work to alert me at 10 o’clock each day (I’ve always liked that time for chapel at school) so that I could just sit back, take a deep breath, and re-align my thoughts. Life is often quiet around that time of the morning, so no one minds if I help myself to a psalm or a chapter of an epistle from Bible Gateway also.
The results of said experiment were, of course, far from surprising. I had peace and joy; I was content and grounded; wisdom and strength were there for the taking. I was, in short, very conscious of the presence of God…. And I still am – all because He drew my attention to that very obvious yet ignored truth. My only hope is that don’t forget it any time soon :).
“I have set the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.”
Psalm 16:8
posted by Gabi @ 9:40 AM
2 Comments:
At Wed Jun 22, 02:58:00 PM CDT,
Lisa Adams said…
You are so right, Gabi. Something I have been learning as well... why is it that we in our human pride think that we can survive without God when we need daily communion with Him if we are to truly accomplish anything of value?
At Sat Jun 25, 01:20:00 PM CDT,
E E Holmes said…
Definitely. I sat in the middle of our living room carpet this morning (being the only one at home), stretched, prayed, and read the last two chapters of Mark. There is almost a tangible sense of spiritual renewal in such times.
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