I can hear my dad right now. He would come into a noise filled room with the 3 of us kids hollering about one thing or another, and very quietly he would say...
"Study to be quiet."
And then he gently closed the door, and went back to his office.
I don't think I ever paid much attention to actually studying to be quiet. We probably muffled our giggles since we were the culprits, and lowered the whole tone of the noise for at least a little while, but study to be quiet?? No, I did not.
study... contemplate, consider, deliberate, examine.
He was trying to get us to think about the word and what it means... study on it, improve in this area, practice it...
be quieter!
I think dad thought that if we at least paused and gave it an honest look, maybe we would all shush! Being quiet takes an effort, a study, a choice.
I sure get it now!
There are days when I realize that so many things I didn't think about back then, I LIVE by now!
Is that wisdom, or simply old age?
Or maybe it's the wisdom that COMES with old age.
('Old age' being a relative term, not necessarily applying to me!) ... :)
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.."In quietness and confidence shall be your strength, and ye would not"...
This is FAITH... our latest precious little one, born last Monday.
I've been there all week and she and GRACIE are happily bonding as new sisters!...
Remember Gracie was the little miracle baby, and now Faithie is the second miracle!
There are so many simple but powerful stories in God's Word. The simple stories hold my attention, they have through the years. These stories have the power to change our lives when we see their truth.
The disciples in the small boat, in the midst of the storm. Peter spots Jesus coming toward them and gets right out of that boat and walks on the water, his eyes riveted on Jesus. Then all of a sudden he remembers that the waves are crashing and the storm is raging, he panics, and his fear causes him to look away from Jesus... to the storm, and immediately he begins to sink.
Peter and I might be related...
I have identified with his actions and reactions many times in the Bible. I think 'oh no', as he begins to sink, but isn't it the same for us?
We are in the middle of one of life's storms, and praying our hearts out to make it through, to survive, and then Jesus shows up! We are so thrilled that we immediately walk toward Him...
The storm, however, has not gone away, and at the point we realize that... our eyes go back to the turbulence around us, away from Jesus, and down we go!
It always comforts me to see how much Jesus loved Peter. He knew his potential, and He knows ours.
We can be quickly caught up in the storm of the moment, and if we aren't careful, each new storm catches us by surprise, and our eyes shift to the problems rather than the Saviour.
Simple story? Yes. Life changing choices in how we respond? Yes. Even when the landscape doesn't change... where we choose to look makes all the difference.
I KNOW where His eyes are... I want mine to stay firmly focused on Him, in or out of the boat.
