Quiet Lessons

God has been teaching me a lot over the last few weeks about slowing down, letting go, and getting quiet before my Creator. Over the last few weeks my a.m. routine has gone like this: Wake up, grab a cup of coffee, take a morning jog with "Val" (running with her gives me a legitimate excuse to stop and rest), grab another cup of coffee and retreat to my porch to read and pray. I position myself about ten feet away from the hummingbird feeder that has become the center of my families attention. No doubt this has become a wonderful place to seek the face of my Lord.

I have never really taken the time to focus on the hummingbird. However, over the last week the bird has become my favorite. Have you ever stopped to think how the hummingbird got its name? Sure we could all take a guess and say, "because it hums." This week I learned first hand the reason for its name. When you get close enough to the hummingbird you realize that the hum doesn't come from a sound it makes with its mouth but rather the sound it makes from it's wings. This truth may have been obvious to you but God taught me something through the hummingbird this week. As I have sit in silence on my porch in close proximity to the bird I have come to have a first person understanding of the bird, I have developed an appreciation for the bird and I plan to purchase my own hummingbird feeder when I get back to Lynchburg. In such a simple way God used His creation to challenge me in my relationship with the Creator. He longs for me to get quiet, to sit close, and to focus on Him. He longs for me to seek a greater intimacy with Him through solitude, silence and a desire to pray continually. Yea! I know that all these things fly into the face of conventional wisdom as it relates to our society......even more reason to seek after these things.

As amazing as that hummingbird is it fails to compare to the awesome splendor of it's Creator. I'm praying for the people of LFCN daily, I am seeking God's face to become a better disciple and I am looking to the future with tremendous optimism.

Abiding!

Stephen