Faithful on Fridays Blog

Where are you?
I think communication was God’s idea from the beginning. Think about it. We have the spoken word and the written word. God spoke the world into existence and Jesus is called the Word. It was all about relationship with Him. I think of the ancient hieroglyphics I’ve seen in Arizona and Egypt, the ancient scrolls in Israel, and I’ve read about the many alphabets that we’re created, all in the name of communication. We live for our cell phones, emails, Facebook, Twitter, and now blogs. Why is that? I propose it is because communication was God’s idea and it’s how we develop relationships. Now, I grant you, verbal, face-to-face communication is the best but sometimes in our busy lives we have to resort to other forms.
God’s reason for communication was based on His desire to intimately commune with mankind. Do you remember the story in Gen. 3:9? If you don’t have it memorized 🙂 let me remind you. God, Adam, and Eve were walking and talking in the Garden. Temptation was later presented and they fell for it. Now, you might think that God would break off all communication with them since they had disobeyed Him but He didn’t. He said to them, in the midst of their sin, “Where are you?” You have to know that God knew where they were. He’s God. It reminds me of playing hide-and-seek with my grandkids. They run and hide and I search for them, knowing where they are. I call out to them, “where are you?” and they answer, “here I am, Mi Mi!” We delight in finding each other.
God is speaking to you today. “I know where you are right now, you are never out of My sight. Your situation is temporary; it will change.” Life always changes and that’s good. He says, “Trust in Me, talk to Me about your hopes, your fears, your dreams. I’m waiting for you.

I am a person who likes to be around people. I don’t like to be alone a lot but in the last few years I have experienced more alone-time; I think I like it. Solitude is being alone, whether you go away or stay home and it is good for the soul. As a spiritual discipline this lack of fellowship is really a challenge, but a good one. It forces us to be more aware of God’s presence and leaves behind, even if just for a few hours, the distracting presence of others. It is an opportunity to practice silence as well. I think they complement each other. More often than not, when we choose to be alone with God we tend to talk. We fill the air with our words. That’s not all bad but it’s also good to be still and just KNOW He’s God. It’s a discipline. When we are quiet with God He receives our total attention and in return He promises to fill us with strength (Is. 30:15). We don’t empty our minds of all thoughts (that’s occultic) but center them on the LORD. It takes consistency and self-discipline as we continually bring our thoughts back as they wander, and they will, but it is worth your effort. I usually look at some aspect of His creation, breathe deeply, close my eyes, and fill my mind with His attributes: holiness, creativity, faithfulness. There is such value with this exercise.

Another way to view this spiritual discipline is from the opposite side. We fill our days with talking. Our cell phones are continually attached to our bodies. Our words are constantly flowing, whether through text or verbal, oftentimes getting us in trouble. We don’t practice the art of listening because we think what we have to say is more valuable. Can you identify? Solitude and silence give us the opportunity to hear from God. There is no substitute.

The final aspect I want to mention is using these disciplines as spiritual warfare. When you choose not to respond to words from others you are keeping yourself from falling into traps set by the enemy. Silence is a good strategy to keep yourself from sin. Our many words open doors that should remain locked. Do you know what I’m saying? Use silence against the devil rather than letting him use your emotional words against you.

In closing, remember that Jesus Christ is the King. In that aspect of His character He deserves our silence. When in the presence of royalty or dignitaries you don’t talk. You stand amazed. Jesus the King is worthy of our silence. The prophet Habakkuk understood this as he wrote: But the LORD is in His holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him. Hab. 2:20

Hello everyone, I have decided to join the twenty first century of technology and create a ‘blog’ for my weekly messages. What was formerly called ‘Friday on Facebook’ I am now entitling, ‘Faithful on Fridays’. I chose this name due to the faithfulness of my readers and the faithfulness of God to give me a fresh message each week. I hope you will enjoy the new format and send the weekly message or blog to your friends; that’s the way blogging works! If you are blessed, others may be blessed as well.

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