We really like it when our Lord stills the storm. When the hurricane’s over and your house is still standing and the skies clear and the sun comes out, we’re ready to go. We’re ready for the power to come back on, stores to reopen, the kids head off to school, fill the car with gas and get back to work.
It doesn’t always work out that way. A day or two later and the power’s still out, cable isn’t back on, gas stations don’t have gas, stores aren’t open, schools are closed, and suddenly, the stillness becomes a nuisance rather than a blessing.
When you have no place you need to be, there’s nowhere to go, no TV, no lights, the world can be a very still place. God says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10), it’s as if he’s asking, “What’s your hurry?”
You will have plenty of busy days. You will have plenty of deadlines, appointments, interruptions and days that seem to fly by. But you’ll have precious few days of stillness. Maybe God knew you needed one. Or two. Enjoy. He’ll let you know when it’s time to go.
The drone of the generator, breeze from the fan, light from just a flame and the very dark nights in a post-hurricane world remind me just a bit of Haiti. There was always a generator running somewhere off in the distance. Small charcoal fires by the side of the road appeared when the sun was gone. An evening breeze was a blessing. We were never in the country for long, but we quickly developed a taste for a place where life wasn’t on the clock. Deadlines, appointments, and interruptions meant little. There was a lot of time to be still.
After a week there, we wished we could bring that stillness home with us. We couldn’t. As soon as we landed, we were back on the clock. Until God in his mercy let us taste again a moment or two…of stillness.
Waite for it... 