The discipline of resting in the moment without distractions has been at times difficult to say the least. But I find that within this period of solitude, the spirit will speak but the real questions are this “am I really listening or am I passively letting it go in one ear and out the other.” The truth as I’m experiencing it tells me that my listening must be intentional if I’m to participate with the Spirit’s work in my life. It hasn’t always been this way. During the drinking and using years, I effectively shut out those closest to me and refused to listen to their pleadings for me “to get help”. Here was my dilemma, I couldn’t stand being alone with my thoughts as they condemned me for the choices that I made and the shame of my continued drinking and using grew even heavier within me. That all changed after finding lasting sobriety on 1/17/2017. Since then, my prayer has been, “Lord give me eyes to see and ears to hear.” The beautiful part about finding restoration and redemption through my Recovery is this, “my sober lifestyle has taught me how to become quiet in order that I hear from the Spirit.” Isn’t this what we should all aspire to do? To listen and then be obedient to the promptings of the Spirit? The truth of this quote goes beyond just hearing the word. We must become doers of the Word. Scripture says in James 1:22, “If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you become like the person who looks
in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face. In the beginning you perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin.” Divine origin!!! I love this phrase! Don’t we all want to live out our authentic divine self? Today, find time to rest in solitude and ask the spirit to reveal himself to you. Remember what the Bible
says, “ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened unto you.” He who has ears let him hear!!!
"Peace is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it." -Thomas Merton