This morning’s post is something of a confession.
As my blog and facebook prayers continue to grow in popularity I find myself constantly wanting to harness my thoughts, to remember my prayers and confine my imaginings so that I can share them with others. I love writing and I love sharing and I know that this is a ministry that God has called me to, so this is not a burden for me, but what I am realizing is that it can be a distraction. Sometimes God wants to speak to me alone. I was very aware of this over the last week as i spent time refreshing and renewing myself. There was much that happened that was for me alone.
Sometimes God wants to touch my heart in a special way but I want to grab hold of that thought and fling it to the winds – share it on my blog, make it into a facebook prayer, expose its energy and rip it from the private place of God’s intention.
So I am learning to sit in the presence of God’s sharing and cherish the words, savouring their flavour, listening for their intent. I am learning to pause and ask Who is this for, is it for me alone?
We live in a world where it is not uncommon for people to air their intimate lives on TV or the internet. We can easily lose the boundaries between private and public thoughts. We walk in the woods and beautiful poetry streams out of our mouths. We feel frustrated because we do not have a place to write the verses down and by the time we get home we have forgotten them. Yet the beauty of those words can revolve in our minds for days. It is lodged in our hearts in a way that it would not have been if we had written the poetry down. The words hover on the edge of our consciousness, touching an intimate place of closeness to God, a place that is more precious because it so intangible, so much beyond the written word.
So this morning I encourage you to take time to savour what God is saying to you alone. Be quick to listen but not to speak. Relax in the wonder of intimacy in that place in which you alone can encounter God.
God may I remember that sometimes you speak to me alone, thoughts not meant to be shared. May I relax in the wonder of intimacy with you, that special place that only I can enter. Amen
8 comments
That is excellent! Years ago I wrote a song called “Whisper”. It is a very intimate song and although I have many songs to share, this one is in a special class by itself. Thanks for reminding me that not every thing is for others.
Your welcome Nancy – in our highly commercialized world the instinct is always to “get it out there”. Your willingness to hold your song to yourself is wonderful.
Thank you for reminding me, Christine. It reminds me of a few years ago. (I was a chaplain, and am currently a pastor.)
When looking through and praying over the lectionary passages in preparation for preaching one week, I was powerfully struck by the epistle passage. So powerfully, I remember. I sat there with the message for several minutes, soaking it in. And then, I remember asking God–timidly–whether I was supposed to preach that message out to my dear congregation of senior residents in the community where I was a chaplain. “No,” came the firm answer. I kept on going through the readings, and realized the Gospel passage had a message I could preach out.
Thanks so much for the reminder, again. @chaplaineliza
Your welcome – appreciate your sensitivity to God’s spirit. Many pastors I know would never have asked “Is this the message for my congregation”, they would have assumed that a powerful message from God should be shared.
Sometimes it means no post for the day. I’ve learned to be OK with those times.
Amen – something I need to take note of
I have experienced the same dilemma over the years, Christine. I find I have to wait, sometimes many years, before I can post those very personal words.
Listening for the still small voice that tells us when and how to share is so important and I think we often get frustrated when God says wait.