It’s Quiet – Really Quiet

Normally I will hear the dogs in the neighborhood barking, coyotes howling, an early bird warbling its song but this morning there is nothing. It is almost unnerving. I have the doors open to let in the cool morning air and with it comes the silence.

I almost hate to do any keyboarding because the touch of the keys break into the absolute quiet and disturbs my time alone with the Father.

Silence.

Having this time alone with my Father is wonderful. One of my favorite hymns when I was girl was “In the Garden”. It still is one of my favorites. And this morning I am singing it in my heart as I treasure these quiet moments with Him.

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

Refrain

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

Sitting here this morning while it’s still dark , enjoying the warmth of a good cup of coffee and seeking the Father for the day’s direction, I am very thankful.

Thankful that my Father is in control.  He hasn’t fallen off His throne, His omniscience is superior to the knowledge of the world’s wisest men and His omnipresence penetrates to the farthest reaches of the universe. With all He has before Him this day He says to me, come and get to know me better.

“My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who truly knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too.” Matthew 11:27 CEV

Jesus has taken the time to tell us about the Father and through what Christ has done we’ve been adopted by the Father. We can call Him “Abba Father” (Papa or Daddy) and we can experience firsthand His love and compassion.

In the silence, I feel His embrace and sense His love. In a small way, I imagine how things might have been when Jesus would pull away from the crowds for time alone with the Father.

I don’t have to have all the answers and I don’t have to learn by “hard knocks”. I can trust the Father and learn from Him.

“With all your heart you must trust the LORD and not your own judgment. 6 Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow.” Proverbs 3:5-6 CEV

Well, the coyotes are beginning to howl and there’s a hoot owl in the mesquite tree telling me  it’s time to start the day. Let the Father lead you.

Listen to the Father speak in the silence of your heart!

Walking with God

We saw yesterday that God came to walk with Adam in the garden.

Even though Adam and Eve sinned and had to leave the garden, God didn’t sever relationship with them.

Today we will meet Adam’s great (5X) grandson. His name is Enoch.

 When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God 300 years after the birth of Methuselah. He had other sons and daughters. 23 So Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was seen no more, for God took him.” Genesis 5:21-24 NLV

How’s that for an afternoon walk? Enoch walked with God and God was pleased with Him. God was so pleased with Him that during their walk one day he just kept walking straight into heaven with God.

Because Enoch had faith, he was taken up from the earth without dying. He could not be found because God had taken him. The Holy Writings tell how he pleased God before he was taken up. A man cannot please God unless he has faith. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is. That one must also know that God gives what is promised to the one who keeps on looking for Him.” Hebrews 11:5-6 NLV

I can just imagine the conversation. Enoch and God out for a walk and Enoch seeing an elephant or a giraffe for the first time. Enoch says to God “that is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen”. God says to Enoch “you think that’s great, come on over to my place and I’ll show you some real spectacular sites”. And Enoch said “I’m outta here”!

Like I said – that’s how I imagine it happened. Scripture doesn’t give us details. It just says that he was taken. Amazing!

Now you may not have been very familiar with Enoch but everyone knows the name of Enoch’s great grandson. It’s Noah!

When Lamech was one hundred eighty-two, he had a son. 29 Lamech said, “I’ll name him Noah because he will give us comfort, as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the Lord has put under a curse.” Genesis 5:28-29 CEV

Noah’s father not only gave him a name but he gave him a destiny.

The Lord saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. He was very sorry that he had made them, and he said, “I’ll destroy every living creature on earth! I’ll wipe out people, animals, birds, and reptiles. I’m sorry I ever made them.”

But the Lord was pleased with Noah, and this is the story about him. Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God. 10 He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” Genesis 6:5-10

Such a startling statement – Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God! By now the earth was quite populated and Noah was the only one who was obeying God.

The Bible tells us God was going to destroy man but Noah, a just or righteous man, found favor in God’s sight. God spoke to Noah told him the plan of salvation; an ark for Noah, his family and the animals. The Bible doesn’t say that Noah was calling on God, no, God was looking at mankind and Noah found favor with Him.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it:” Genesis 6:10-15 NIV

God then went on to give Noah the dimensions for the ark. God also told him to bring in the animals and how many of each kind.  I don’t know Noah’s occupation before this but he was now a full time contractor.

 I’m going to send a flood that will destroy everything that breathes! Nothing will be left alive. 18 But I solemnly promise that you, your wife, your sons, and your daughters-in-law will be kept safe in the boat” Vs 17-18

Noah received God’s word and went to work fulfilling what he had been told. He didn’t laugh at God or express the impossibility of the task. As Noah was building he was also preaching to his neighbors. Telling them to repent so they could be saved from the flood. No one listened. Can you imagine how discouraging that might have been? But Noah never faltered at his task.

“Noah was six hundred years old when he went into the boat to escape the flood, and he did everything the Lord had told him to do. His wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law all went inside with him. 8-9 He obeyed God and took a male and a female of each kind of animal and bird into the boat with him. 10 Seven days later a flood began to cover the earth.” Genesis 7:7-10 CEV

Noah and his family were saved because he had a heart to obey God. They talked together as a man talks with his friend.

 Because Noah had faith, he was warned about something that had not yet happened. He obeyed and built a boat that saved him and his family. In this way the people of the world were judged, and Noah was given the blessings that come to everyone who pleases God.” Hebrews 11:7 CEV

What a wonderful reputation these two men had. No one filed a missing person report on Enoch, everyone knew he walked with God. Noah and his family were saved from a catastrophic flood because he had an obedient heart.

Thank you Lord for the example of these men! My desire is for an obedient heart each day.