Happy Monday Church family,
This morning I was thinking about, and remembering, a time before I was called by God here. Specifically that memory brought up the phrase, ‘in the still of the night’—and that does not mean that I was singing the song from 1956 by Fred Parish with the same name, although its a great song, and it is worth singing!
Instead this story takes place about an hour west of Plains when I was once running in the neighborhood around our home one night. At that time, Jennifer and I lived on the edge of a farming community where small housed dotted the landscape. It was a nice area to run in and there was always minimal traffic. What traffic came could easily be heard so I was not in danger of being run off the road. That night, as I ran along listening to music, and huffing and puffing, I was protected, or watched over, by street lights. It was like running in any normal neighborhood. . .
About a mile from our home the street lights stopped. The houses became more sparse. There were no more porch lights to show me the road and where to step when I ram. Nothing but corn fields in front of my eyes. The song I was listening to stopped, and I was running in the silent ’still of the night.’ This went on for a while as my iPod’s battery died at that moment (the battery had a tendency to drop suddenly on me when I least expected it).
It was so quiet that night. No car noise. . . nothing. I could almost hear the silence through my earbuds. I found myself looking around a lot hoping not to come face to face with a deer, or stumble upon a groundhog or opossum who would scare me to death, and then run off into the woods likely more scared than I was. I wondered about bears in the field sleeping (as I had seen a few over the years in this area). What if someone came up behind me?? Never mind that I was running and they wouldn’t likely sneak up on me with me knowing it! The ’still of that night’ was eerie. My breathing picked up just a little bit as I ran, and not because I ran. I was nervous. . .
But what I missed the opportunity on that night?
What if we miss the opportunity today? What if the opportunity was not to be afraid of what I could not seem or of what I thought could harm me, but instead to notice what God placed before me as a guide or blessing? Then, once I noticed that thing, that moment, that presence, could I trust in God to guide and shepherd me home in the dark? Maybe instead of being anxious or frightened or worried or hesitant about the future, or about what lies just beyond my sightline, what would happen if I just reached out to God, and let God shepherd me, guide me, and comfort me along my pathway?
The more I thought about that night the more I wondered about where are the places in my day when I am so wound up, so anxious, so confused, so distracted that I miss the chance to just breath with God and live in the stillness of God’s presence?
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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