Some time ago I asked a friend, “What is God doing in your life.” Her response was quick, “Good question. Not sure.”

We discussed it over a cup of coffee and she shared with me that God was far away and not up to much. “If he were wouldn’t I feel something?”

Maybe or maybe not.

Then I remembered an old saying, “If the only tool you have is a hammer then everything begins to look like a nail.”

However, I understand what she meant. Silence. A period where life feels flat or in a holding pattern. God seems distant, remote.

Many times I have made the mistake in thinking or feeling God was distant when in actuality it was the silence that bothered me. In our world silence is a precious commodity we crave… we just don’t realize it. Silence bears our soul up to our conscious mind. Sometimes we are frightened by what we see.

Our feelings must not be the only gauge or tool we use to recognize how, when, and where, God is at work in our lives. Silence is one of the tools God uses to draw us to him and make us pause from the hurriedness of life’s demands.

Another saying (Two for one today) “We are human beings not human doings.” How does that apply to our own day to day activities? Where are the natural pauses?

Seeing what God is doing in our lives means slowing our pace and relying on him to work with us where we are in our walk with him. When we allow silence to be part of the process of emotionally calming down and recentering, we enter into a holy space with our Lord.

And, it is enough to be in that holy space with him… in his presence. This is where peace, joy patience, loving kindness… the fruits of the spirit are acquired.

This is not some spiritual, philosophical mumbo jumbo… silence is part of the conversation we have with God.

So I ask you, “What is God doing in your life?”

Mark+