One of my favorite summer activities I most look forward to is sitting around a campfire with my family. We aren’t necessarily talking, but are just being together. I watch the flames dance. I think about what we did outside in nature during the day. I feel the peace of the moment and a deep joy and ease washes over me. In those moments, I’m not worried about DOING anything. I am simply being present, with my family and with nature – and it is life giving to me!
In the same way, we have a Heavenly father who wants us to simply sit with him in his company. He wants us to let our souls find rest in him, find peace in him, and find a deep sense of joy by sitting with him. He doesn’t require that we ask him for anything, though we may. And he doesn’t call for us to sit with him in any prescribed way. He simply wants us to BE with him.
We see an example of what it means to just sit at the feet of Jesus when we look at the story of Mary and Martha. Martha was busy with preparing everything for those who came over to her home, something to which many of us can. But Mary, her sister, was focused solely on Jesus. Luke 10:39 tells us “Mary sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.” Yes, Mary could have joined Martha in DOING something for the Lord, but she instead took the opportunity to just sit, BE with him, and listen.
Today, given the disruption to our schedules and the socially distanced world we live in, Jesus is inviting us to take a moment and quietly sit with him. He wants us to turn our attention from all that we could be doing, or from all the anxieties weighing down our hearts and to instead focus on him. Focus on who he is: his character, his glory, his infinite nature. Or focus on what he has done: in creating the universe, living a life worth following, dying for our sins, and rising from the dead to show us new life awaits.
And as you sit with Jesus, take a deep breath and allow the worries of your life to fade into the background. Then listen to what he is speaking to your heart. Allow his words and his wisdom to guide you and to transform your heart. Feel the warmth of his love and the stillness of his peace. And watch as he takes this moment of quietly staring into his face and he develops inside each of you a desire to be like him and be with him even more.
Today’s Journaling Reflections:
- In general, are you more hardwired to “Do Things” or to “Be With”?
- How does the idea of sitting quietly with God for an extended time make you feel?
- What barriers exist that hold you back from spending time alone with God?
- Have you ever had an experience of sitting quietly with God when you felt his presence was right there with you? If so, take a moment to remember how that felt. If not, ask another Christian if they have ever had that experience.
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