Silence, solitude, and meditation ...

For the next several weeks, Jason Roark will be bringing the daily devotionals to us based on the fruit of our focus on the spiritual disciplines during our weekly devotional time. We will see how these disciplines can form us into godly people within a godly community.

“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17

After meditating on this passage of scripture last Thursday, I have come to realize a little more about God’s love for me. God is standing with me, sitting with me, walking with me, and yes he is even there while I sleep. He is right there while you struggle with daily life. He is right there listening to your worries, and knows them before you say a word. He desires you to just turn them over to Him.

He is mighty to save. So often we worry, cry, and hurt all because we do not have the power or strength to deal with some of the situations we get into everyday. When you feel like you just can’t make it, remember this. Remember that the God who created the universe, who parted the Red Sea, sent a burning tornado of fire to guide the Israelites, made a donkey talk, raised the dead, calmed the seas, and sacrificed his own Son, is with YOU and mighty to save YOU! He takes great delight in YOU! He is ready to quiet YOU with his love, and yes he is even at this moment singing over YOU, the great love song that a Father sings to his children.

When you read this passage remember these things. When you meditate on scripture, make it personal. Make sure you put yourself in the passage. God is longing for us to take his Word to heart. As we meditated on this passage this last Thursday in our Disciplines class, many of you had epiphanies. Let me read some of them to you.

“Why do I keep myself from his presence, his rescue, his delight, his quiet love, and his rejoicing over me? It is me that denies myself these things, these great gifts. WHY? Because of my list in my head, because I’m not worthy, because of my laziness, BECAUSE I DON’T STOP AND SEEK IT OFTEN ENOUGH! Being bare before the Lord is how he always sees me. Why can’t I come to his presence alone?”

“O Lord, still the thousand distractions that surround my soul so that I can hear your voice, and the voice of those around me more clearly. May I hear you well so as to please you well!”

“I don’t think I have much been quieted with love before, or rejoiced over with singing!? That’s just too much to hope for. Increase my faith!”

“Sometimes I don’t feel like I am a delight to you Lord. My sins take me away from your presence and I don’t feel like a delight to you. But you’re ever there, reaching out to me, calling me back to Your presence, Your family, and Your community.”

Can you see yourself in some of these quotes from brothers and sisters in our midst? Can you feel their pain, their hope, their frustrations, and their longings? We minister to people everyday who do not understand hope. They do not understand the point of sitting at the feet of the Father, because if they sit too long, they are forced to see what some of these brothers and sisters saw. They are forced to see a person who needs someone. A person who needs a God.

Silence, Solitude, and Meditation are just three of the disciplines we practiced this past Thursday in our disciplines class. Some of us walked away unchanged, and some of us walked away like a broken tool, longing for the master blacksmith to take us and reshape us and sharpen us. This is just the beginning. I am glad we are on this journey together.

Jason