Sitting at the water's edge of a secluded lake in the middle of nowhere at 5:30 in the morning all by yourself can be an amazing place to reset your busy mind. That is just what I was doing one morning on our trip to the Boundary Waters.There is so much going on in my family's life right now that it feels like we're living in a blender.
I was just at a point that morning where I needed to feel God's presence. As I sat there, I read some passages of scripture and just prayed.
This is hard to say, but my goal with this blog is to be totally transparent, so here it is….
I prayed for a sign of His existence…...for Him to show me that He is real.
As I sat there watching and waiting, the most amazing thing happened…….
Nothing.
If you're reading this and you are a skeptic, you might be thinking to yourself,
"Ah-ha…see Tom, God isn't real."
And in response to that I would say, "Ah-ha….not so fast."
As I sat still and looked for Him and listened for Him for the first time in a very long time, nothing happened……and that's when everything happened.
In the silence of nothing, I heard the flapping of the dragonfly wings against the damp air.
In the silence of nothing, I heard the birds speaking to one another. I heard the scampering of squirrels and the splash from the fish catching breakfast off of the surface of the water.
In seeing nothing, I saw the morning mist rise through the towering pines. I saw the majestic soar of the Bald Eagle, and the flight pattern of the amazingly small "No See-ums".
I was sitting on the edge of a lake that was teeming with living creatures. My chair was on a gigantic rock formation shooting up from the soft earth around it, and I was watching a fiery ball in the sky, burn off the remaining morning fog.
How did all of this come to be? Who told the lake where to stop? Who placed the large boulder I sat upon? Who created the amazing Eagle? Who has ownership of the fine instruments used to create the infinitely small "No See-um"?
For me, I find that it is not the absence of the truth of our Creator's existence, just the suppression of it.
God knew that it wasn't a sign that I needed.
God knew I just needed to slow down and be still.
Sometimes we just have trouble hearing and seeing God because He is EVERYWHERE.
That morning, I was revitalized and I have felt a nearness to Him that I have not felt in a while. I have a new passion to drive forward in my endeavors that have made life like living in a blender for my family.
My family and I will have time to rest in eternity.
May you come to see that God is real. May you hear Him. May you see Him, and may you realize that God is EVERYWHERE.
