Finding “I Am”
Every year my family takes a vacation to my sister and brother in laws’ lake house near Coldwater, Michigan. It is a time of relaxation and recreation as well as bonding with the family. I find that it is also a highly creative time for me. Many mornings, while my husband, brother-in-law and two sons go out on an early fishing expedition, I spend time outside in a comfortable lawn chair, admiring the peacefulness of the lake, studying God’s word, listening for His voice and writing what comes to me. There isn’t much activity on the lake yet. The television is not on. The cell phone is turned off. I’m not hooked into the internet. I am only connected to God.
Often times, it takes a retreat away from our busy lives to feel close to God. Jesus himself, knowing he needed time with his Father, would go alone to the mountainside to pray (John 6:45,46). So, if Jesus needed quiet and solitude to recharge, why wouldn’t we?
If it my belief that we simply don’t disconnect from the world enough. Psalm 46:10 encourages us to “Be still and know that I am God.” I have a plaque on my kitchen counter that shortens this verse to “Be still and know that I am.” In Exodus, when Moses asked God who should he say sent him to free the Israelites from slavery, God told him to tell the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” It is in the stillness and silence of our existence where we hear God’s voice and know the great “I am.” It needs to be a daily discipline to turn off all that distracts us so we can focus on our creator, Almighty God. Who or what could be more important?