Epiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
January 21, 2015

 Scripture Reading: Psalm 62:5-12

For God alone my soul waits in silence,
   for my hope is from him.
 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
   my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
 On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
   my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.  — Psalm 62:5-7

 It takes a while for me to be truly still and wait for God. I have a busy brain. It seems to think that the stiller I get is its opening to be even busier. I read some good advice a few years ago that was really helpful. Sorry, I cannot give credit to its author, I simply do not remember, but the gist of it is that it helps to keep a busy brain busy while trying to be still. Distracted might be a better word. The article said to work puzzles, for example. I count while riding an exercise bike and it seems to work. When we stop talking ceaselessly to ourselves, we create space to hear God’s voice.

It seems as a society we do not really get the idea of waiting. In many instances we procrastinate so long that we miss opportunities to make a difference. Such behavior is not waiting. At other times we respond too quickly running amuck just so we can say we are doing something. It happens in basketball games all the time. The players start off well implementing their plays and then one side or the other gets a steal and runs down to make a dunk and the race is on, the playbook is out the window. Eventually one coach will call a timeout to reset the play button.

The Psalmist is calling us today to build moments into our lives when we can routinely reset our play button and get back into God’s plan for us.

Prayer: Lord, teach me the art of waiting in your love and grace. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.