Stormy Weather
This weeks Gospel is familiar to most people out there. My prayer for each of you this week is to allow the Holy Spirit to open a new perspective in your heart. Don’t just skim over the familiar. There is gold in the deep.
1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a The Lord was not in the wind…The Lord was not in the earthquake…The Lord was not in the fire… there was a tiny whispering sound
What do you think of when you envision wind, fire, and earthquakes?
If the physical world is often reflected in the spiritual world, what have the wind, fires, and earthquakes of your life looked like? Have you been able to hear God in the midst of the upheaval?
Think on a tiny whisper. If you want to hear a tiny whispering sound what do you need to do? If you have trouble hearing the still small voice of our Lord, how can you spiritually replicate what you have to do physically to hear a small noise?
Psalm 85 Lord let us see your kindness
Heavenly Father, help me to seek your still small voice. Help me to know your care, love, and kindness. Help me to not turn away when the winds blow, my world is shaken, or my plans go up in flames. Help me to stop and be still. Open my heart to listen for your plan trusting that you are building me up and not tearing me down. Amen.
Romans 9:1-5 My conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witness
Where in your life do you team up with the Holy Spirit?
To witness is to give your personal perspective. Have you ever asked Holy Spirit to give you His perspective of what troubles your heart? Put another way, have you asked Holy Spirit for the gift of wisdom so that you can get outside your own headspace and get His view?
Where in your life right now are you feeling a pull to do just that? Spend some time waiting for the whisper. Come Holy Spirit Come.
Matthew 14:22-33 “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.”
Right this minute, Jesus is standing in the deep and He is asking you to “Come.” What step is He asking you to take? (Hint: a lot of times it is a recurring thought towards something good but a little outside our comfort zone)
Ask the Holy Spirit to ‘join with your conscience’ and show you times in your life that you took that step of faith out into the deep. How did it turn out when you did? Does it make you more likely or less likely to follow His next invitation? Ask Holy Spirit for another of His great gifts, faith. We cannot conjure it on our own, but we can ask for it time and time again.
Now in prayer ask the Holy Spirit to share one or two moments in your life where your soul proclaimed, “Truly you are the Son of God.” How did you feel in that moment? When we are being distracted by wind and fire it is helpful to have those moments held close to our hearts that we may remain above the surface.
