How I long for the quiet respite of the seaside. I first learned to love the quietness of the sea, when I was dating my wife. She was from the North Carolina coastal area, so beach days, with a Bible and a journal were not uncommon. It’s from my times spent with her, that I have come to value quiet moments at the seaside.
When I feel life pressing in, I long to be back at the sea for those quiet moments.
Some days, quieting my heart seems impossible. When I slow down, my mind or my hand finds ways to stay busy, and the quiet, drawing voice of God once again gets lost in the waves.
But, God does not silence, I call out to him to not be silent. I call out for help to quiet my heart. I long to come to a place of rest. I desire connection and rest in God, away from the demands and busyness of life.
Even in the middle of life’s chaos, my heart’s longings align with the call I hear from God. I know this because my tears are always on the verge of flowing when I taste even the slightest hint of connection and validation from God.
I resonate with David as he wrote these words:
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
psalmist David
This panting after the water, is not some high, lofty spiritual maturity. Rather, my experience has been quite the opposite.
In handling life on my own, invariably my soul becomes parched. In my subconscious, I begin to pant after God, until one day it becomes so unbearable that I have to face it and own it.
I find these moments to be the hardest to quiet my heart. I tell myself that I have work to do, projects to finish, bills to pay, and a family to love. I must not stop or slow down. If I do, I’ll fail.
But it is just the opposite.
Without quieting my heart, and drinking from the living water, listening to God’s voice, all my best efforts will surely fail.
Father God, Please speak to my heart with your quiet, loving, but relentless voice. Do not give up on me. Please help me to quiet my heart, and get still in your presence so that I can drink from your living water. I am thirsty Lord, I long for you. I need you. Please come for me. In Jesus Name, Amen