"Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God."
---Anne Frank, Amsterdam, 1944
I have had a great deal of respect for Anne Frank, more so after finally getting my own copy of her diary this Christmas and reading it at the age of 27 versus age 15. There is also a difference in understanding as I see myself trapped in a few walls. My food is good, I can leave and I am not (yet) in danger of death for who I am and what I believe. Otherwise I feel a connection to the author.
This quote is now underlined in my book. I do not think it is entirely correct, simply because happiness is not found in ourselves but in the relationship between us and our Lord.
It is, however, extraordinarily correct on one major point. It is easier to converse with God when we are in a quiet, beautiful area than in rush hour traffic. Not that it cannot be done...but I have always found personally that my prayers and times of "Be Still and Know that I Am God" are much more interrupted when surrounded by rush hour traffic. Oops! Someone tried to squash me with their semi truck!
The idea of "quiet time" with Him has always irked me. Mainly because of the risk of its becoming rout behavior. It is now 9:39 a.m. I will now read the Word for ten minutes.
No. Such a relationship is useless, lukewarm. We must strive to make our time with God have the effect on us, with even stronger passion, than that of the time we would want to spend with a boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse.
I have always loved the quote of being able to sit silently with someone for half an hour without discomfort meant a good, solid relationship. The friends (and spouse!) and family members I have are the sort of people I can sit for half an hour and say nothing without discomfort. The lack of conversation does not mean a lack of relationship...rather a comfort in not having to entertain. To enjoy the silent company of another.
We should be able to know God well enough to feel comfortable enough to sit silently in His glorious Presence and not feel uncomfortable (save perhaps overwhelming awe). If we have the ability to sit silently, with even our minds silent, we can truly bask in His glory. Of course, great conversation and time spent expanding what we know of Him is indeed a wonderful thing. I yearn for both of these things, and find my soul well watered and satisfied with them.
What glories upon glories He does reveal in His relationship with us, the wonders in the Word expanding before us in an unending path of glory and honor. I expect we shall ever find the end of the wonder in God. C.H Spurgeon points out in one of his first sermons that God is ageless...He is not applied by age, His eyes are not dim, nor is His hearing. Somehow, for me and my physical limitations, that idea of agelessness, with no physical damage, is very overwhelmingly awesome. There are no words to continue the thoughts in my mind at this point...imagine on yourself what I see.
Grace and peace be upon you.
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