Luke and The Lost

Are you perplexed? Are you wondering where God is in all the confusing activities around you? Breathe. Just breathe as the songs goes by the same title. But I am reminded of a chorus of my childhood and young adult years that impacted my life so much that I still remember it today. Here are the lyrics of A QUIET PLACE…

There is a quiet place, far from the rapid pace
Where God can soothe my troubled mind

Sheltered by tree and flower
There in my quiet hour with Him, my cares are left behind

Whether a garden small, or on a mountain tall
New strength and courage there I find

Then from this quiet place I go to prepare to face
A new day with love for all mankind

Whether a garden small, or on a mountain tall
New strength and courage there I find

Then from this quiet place I go to prepare to face
A new day with love for all mankind.

Another chorus equally beneficial, but so old I can’t find it anymore…

My quiet hour with God to get to know Him better
My quiet hour with God to get to know more.
Not a quick hello or a cry for help.
Just to get to know Him more.

These words quiet my heart yet today and calm my restlessness of indecision and ponderings of what might be next. The choruses settle my soul and send me to that quiet place of prayer where I am…still. I know I must give all to God, listen and wait for Him to answer. “Be still and know that I am God” the Psalmist writes.

I have learned that if I am willing to listen and prepared to obey, the answers come. But it is in these quiet hours of time with Him that His Light seeps in, burning off the fog that clouds my mind, allowing me to see the next step in the journey with Him. He organizes my thoughts and pulls them together to make sense, which is a process of changing my heart’s desires to match His. He prioritizes the urgent that lead to purpose and pushes away the busyness activities that lead to complacency.

Be still and know. In our next passage of Luke we read that Jesus, the Son of God, who never sinned, prayed. He went off by himself to pray before doing anything of importance. Before choosing his leadership team, He prayed. ALL night. He prayed and listened. Then He did what the Father told Him to do.
“I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it,” says Jesus. (John 12:49) “So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” (John 5:19)

So why don’t we? Be still. Pray. Listen. Obey. Repeat.

Luke 6, The Message

The Twelve Apostles
12-16 At about that same time he climbed a mountain to pray. He was there all night in prayer before God. The next day he summoned his disciples; from them he selected twelve he designated as apostles:

Simon, whom he named Peter,
Andrew, his brother,
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Simon, called the Zealot,
Judas, son of James,
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Here we are again to study YOU for it is all about YOU. Thank you for all you have done, are doing and will do in our lives, individually and collectively. I’m ready to listen, trust, and obey. There is no other way. 
In Jesus Name, Amen