Much of what is sacred is hidden in the ordinary, everyday moments of our lives. To see something of the sacred in those moments takes slowing down so we can live our lives more reflectively.
Ken Gire
July 4 2019 It feels like one of those days. . . I woke up grumpy, human. A series of petty events rolling into a morning, knowing this is not how I want to spend my day with those that I love. I’m on the porch, a second cup of coffee, Bible open, looking for my reset. Wouldn’t the Father of all that is Evil, love to see me waste this day? Wrapped up in discontent, focused on imperfection. His victories are subtle, when we throw away our greatest gift; time- breath- fleeting moments. Today he will not be victorious.
God speaks to us in the whisper of our hearts, in the stillness. We can see His majesty as lightning crackles and dances across the night sky. And we feel Him in the warmth of sunbeams caressing our skin as they stream down from heaven. But, it’s in the silence we experience Him, learn the tones of His voice. Satan, always ready to pounce on an opportunity, has made it his objective to steal our silence. If he can keep us from being still, he has a victory. If our to-do list, full of well-intended activities and obligations, keeps us just busy enough, we won’t even realize what we are missing. It’s all connected. Too much to do, too little time- and the devil thinks, perfect.
Up early, without sufficient sleep, grumpy, fumbling for survival in a warm cup, mind foggy, drudging through obligations, it’s here that satan wins. By noon, we’re so wrapped up in ourselves and our problems, we haven’t even had a thought reach toward heaven. The midday bleeds into an overwhelming evening and exhausted and hopeless, we fall into bed, and Satan wins. It’s such a simple scheme, he thinks, they won’t even notice- and another day blurs into the next of meaningless existence
It doesn’t matter how well-intended or sacrificial the activities are that hold us captive. Satan doesn’t care whether we become a slave to consumerism trapped by debt or a slave to expectations and demands that we have allowed others to place upon us. A slave to sickness and disease; bodies overworked and abused or materialism, slaves to stuff. Church leadership, self-sacrifice for others- Satan doesn’t care, as long as it keeps us from hearing the still small voice. Our overcrowded schedules and complacent lives have so easily made us a slave to all, but Christ. The longing that begins as a whisper in our hearts, a flicker of hope so effortlessly snuffed out- as longs as we miss it, too consumed. He wins.
The exciting part is that we can take control, we have a choice! We can stop turning our time and lives mindlessly over to the one who wants to keep us from seeing Jesus. In sharing my journal entry I wanted to demonstrate how easy it can be to let Satan control the circumstances of a day. We have to commit to living positively daily; otherwise, by default, he will win.