Mindful of God
Meditation on His Presence
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46.10
Mindfulness is the practice of being aware. It is a state of seeking wisdom in silence and contemplating spiritual growth. Mindfulness connects us with the present moment and it connects us with God.
God tells us to seek Him, to wait for Him, to feed upon His word, and to drink in His presence. Sometimes, however, we forget that God comes to us in stillness. Too often, we expect God to display his power in a forceful manner, but God does not need to go to this extreme to get our attention. Instead, He comes to us in the quiet, still moments when we seek Him.
This fact is evident in the meeting between God and the prophet Elijah in I Kings 19. In this passage, the prophet is running for his life from the wicked Queen Jezebel. Elijah is despondent and almost suicidal. After tending to Eliah's physical needs, The LORD tells Elijah to meet him on the mountain.
As I Kings 19: 11-13 tells us "The LORD said, 'Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.' Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave."
In the above passage, the whisper is more powerful than all the forces of nature combined. Therefore, in stillness and silence God will reveal His will for us if we remember to be mindful of His presence.
We never have to wait for God because He is always with us. In times of distress, we think that he has abandoned us; but, in retrospect, we realize that He never left our sides. This is why the Psalmist refers to the LORD as our "refuge and strength." God is so powerful the he the can make wars cease. All we have to do is be mindful of His presence. All we have to do is be still and know that He is God.
However, the cruel truth is that we live in a noisy world. The endless chatter of chaos makes it almost impossible to seek stillness. Without the still, small voice of God to calm us and to give us direction in life, we are left confused and bewildered. Therefore, it is important to turn our intention towards the force the sustains us and makes us whole. It is important that we look beyond the noise and be mindful of God's presence. It is in His presence that we find light, peace, and renewal.
Seek stillness and know that HE is God.
