Slow Down. Look Around. Listen for God's Voice.
Dear Friends,
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It is funny how certain places, sounds and smells can bring back memories that we have long forgotten. I was traveling down the Goldstar Highway in Groton when I passed an office complex. I looked left and there it was, like a mirage rising out of the horizon. Memories of a distant time immediately came flooding into the forefront of my mind.
In 2002 my daughter started contemplating the idea of getting her driver's license. She had just turned 17. So, I took on the challenge of teaching her the rules of the road. We'd go out once a week and she would get behind the wheel. It was awkward at first. Through the years you tend to forget that keeping the car between the lines is an acquired skill. It isn't easy.
Driving takes practice. For most of us, the more you do it, the easier and more natural it feels. Needless to say, we were all over the road on those first few drives. We didn't go very far. Each time we got in the car we practiced the basics. She was a quick learner. It didn't take long before she got the hang of it.
Once she got a taste of driving, her next step was to enroll in a driver's education course. That's where the office building in Groton comes in. I drove her down there for eight weeks. They met there in an office on the second floor. Near the end of the course, I even let her drive home a few times.
I enjoyed our drives and the conversation that arose from those times together. Our purpose was focused on her getting her license, yet it gave us the opportunity for us to talk about what was going on in her life. In our busyness, we often get disconnected from those who mean the most to us. It is in these ordinary, mundane moments that the best things happen.
The same is true in our relationship to God. God isn't only present in those mountain top experiences. He doesn't only grace us with His presence in those special moments. Yes, He is there in the feeding of the five thousand. He certainly was present on top of the Mount of Transfiguration. I believe that God often comes to us in the "meantime."
Experience teaches us that God is often found in those spaces between where we are and where we are going. In the Gospel of John there is a story about a woman at a well. She is doing what she has done many times before. This day is different. She meets Jesus there. A life changing conversation follows. An ordinary day becomes an extraordinary encounter.
Have you been searching for God? Slow down. Look around and listen for His voice. The words of Chuck Girard's song, "Slow Down," come to mind. He sings, "In the midst of my confusion, in the time of desperate need, when I am thinking not too clearly, a gentle voice does intercede. ‘Slow down. Be still. Slow down and hear His voice. And know that He is God.’”
If you have felt far from God. Slow down. Just as driving a car takes practice, so does learning to walk with God. Yet, the more you do it, the easier and more natural it feels.
See you in church.
Pastor Cal