I intended to write about something said in an email message to me recently: “Stop striving and start living.” Today, I had a different thought because I was struggling yesterday with the assumption that God is not in the business of answering prayers anymore. This past year I have prayed diligently for people who have died or have had a recurrence of cancer. It is disheartening, but I had an epiphany today.
We have been waiting for the arrival of my newest grandson, Teddy. Yesterday, Heather’s blood pressure was high, so she was sent to triage where they monitored it. They were concerned about preeclampsia. I prayed! I put her on the prayer chain. I prayed some more. Three hours later, she was sent home because her blood pressure went down. I knew it was an answer to prayer. I knew it was a little nudge in my spirit saying, “I am listening Kathy.”
In my devotions this morning, I read, “Silence takes the emphasis off words and builds intimacy where they’re no longer necessary.” I realized that “stop striving and start living” and this quote are in the same vein. They speak of trust. Sometimes we long to hear the words and to have the answers to the prayers of our heart, but we need to step back and just breathe. When we strive, we fail to hear the still small voice that tells us that HE has everything under control. I am a control freak, so it isn’t easy for me to just live and let God do the work he has planned in each of the situations I am praying about. But when I trust, it builds intimacy.
Recently, I spoke of my “radio silence.” Sometimes there is either “radio silence” with God or I am on the wrong frequency. But if I just trust that everything will work out as he planned it, my intimacy grows with the lover of my soul. When I trust, I grow! When I grow, I trust. It is really very simple. So, I guess it is time to stop striving and start living. It’s time to trust those moments of silence knowing it is all part of building intimacy.
