I met with an old friend today, whom I haven’t seen for five months due to lockdown. We’ve kept in touch throughout, sending messages, emails and an occasional video call, but today was different. As we sat down opposite each other in a corner of a quiet cafe, it suddenly struck me that there is something distinctly different about meeting face to face. Being together in person, energised and encouraged both of us. Communication is total when you are sat one metre apart: facial expressions, body language, hand gestures, a glint in the eye – all speak as clearly as the words being vocalised. No amount of messages invisibly crossing the airwaves at ridiculous speed can compare to a physical encounter.
The revelation continued.
God Himself, All powerful, Almighty, King of the Universe (she writes whilst thunder is literally crashing around her), wants the exact same interaction with us. He longs for us to fix a time to sit and be with Him, one on one, face to face, to the absolute exclusion of others, as well as our phones. He wants us to spend time with Him, concentrating on Him so that He can delight in us, reveal more of His character to us, share more of the plans and purposes He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11) and also to tell us “great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)
Furthermore, He wants us to be still, to rest a while, to release the burdens and stresses that we carry, into the vast expanse of eternity where He will deal with them. Yet we’re simply too busy for such interaction with someone whom we can’t truly see face to face. Plus it’s a challenge to sit still and interact with the Almighty when the ‘to do’ list is at the forefront of our minds.
Too often my own prayers are superficial and too structured as I reel off my lists of people and situations to pray for, then speak out key scriptures and declarations to ensure my day goes as smoothly as possible. But during this lockdown, God challenged me – He gently pressed His powerful conviction upon me – ‘Put the phone down. Stop scrolling through Twitter. You don’t need to load a meaningless game onto your laptop. Switch off the TV. Don’t search through Netflix…’ All suggestions, not commands. I had a choice.
It took some time. Admittedly I wasn’t jumping at the chance to disengage my brain from these tried and tested activities that are so successful at filling my mind as a means of switching off or relaxing, yet do little or nothing to edify or educate me. But I got the hint – eventually.
If we treated the time with our friends as we treated our time with God, I’m certain that our social calendars would need less updating. How tedious and tiresome our relationships would be if we merely flung hopeful words in their direction, or talked incessantly, or reeled off lists of requests we’d like them to do, all whilst thinking of our own impending tasks to do as soon as our allotted time is up…
When I did finally still myself and sat in stillness, God quickly showed up; He didn’t keep me waiting. When I intentionally stopped and listened to Him – when I ceased my incessant speech, the beauty of His Majesty filled the moment in time I had surrendered to Him. I listened… then I listened some more. I heard Him speak and it was all good; it was all love. It was encouraging and affirming – inspiring. I soon appreciated the lack of my need to interject; it quite simply was not necessary. This was ‘being’ in its fullest; this was meeting God face to face.
And it was beautiful.
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TURN AND TRUST 