Monday, May 16, 2011

Whispers

I put another three miles on these legs tonight. I managed a respectable pace, but. it's clear that I've lost a step or two since I ran distance in High School. The other night, I was telling Bethany, after you hit thirty, you are suddenly conscious of the odometer on your knees. You realize that it may not roll over as many times as you want it to, and you start to appreciate them more. I digress...

During my cool down, I walked to the end of the street- down where there are no houses. Just fields and sky. As I turned back toward home, my attention was upward. What a sky it was - golden hues of the setting sun ringed by the ever-deepening blues and violets of dusk. The fleeting tail of another glorious day. How had I missed that? How had that scene not stopped me in my tracks during the course of my run? I felt The Lord whispering my name...


Ben, look at this, isn't it something...

I stopped and stared because what else could I do.
The heavens declare the glory of God; 
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.


I think that about sums up my feelings. I needed to get back home and get things done. So many things drain my time at night- necessary and otherwise.  Still, I heard that whisper - Stop. Wait.

What is it Lord, what are you trying to tell me here?

So I just stood there in the middle of the street, in awe of that sky. I just took it in, absorbed it, tried my best to see it as if I'd never seen the sky before. That's when I heard Him again...

I did this in a day. What is it that you are so afraid to ask me?


Thirty minutes later, I'm still not exactly sure where God is going with this, but I had to jot this down before I forget. Maybe this is for one of you reading this too, and you need to ask yourself that same question.

We (self, that means you too!) get so entangled in our pride here on earth. It is all about us, isn't it? That's our deal, right? For goodness sakes, a few years ago, Time Magazine's person of the year was who? Yep, you remember - it was You. It was me, it was all of us. Says a lot, doesn't it? It's all about us. Tonight I was so into what I had just accomplished, so proud, that I missed the greatest love letter of all time, stretched across a limitless sky.

I'm glad that God still takes time to whisper our name and speak words of affirmation into our hearts.I encourage all of us to listen a little more this week.

2 comments:

amanda Lancaster said...

this post is such a blessing. Im a single mom and I often feel as if I am doing this alone and get so wrapped up in "self" and what "I" can do and negative things without asking the Lord for the things I need help with and clarity. This is a beautiful photo as well. Im new to reading blogs and just happened to stumble across this one! What a blessing and an awesome, powerful reminder.

Ben and Bethany said...

Thank you for your kind words. May God bless you.