SPEAKING TO THE SOUL

Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. Do not let me fall into their hands.
Psalm 27:11-12a NLT

For many years I chose how to live with an eye to ensuring it appeared Christian. I could “window dress” my behaviours to match my rhetoric. No one, except for God, trawled my mind and knew my innermost thoughts. Only as I emerged wounded through a serious trial in my life did I start to desire God alone. I really needed to learn how to live, for my choices had not worked.

I sensed that my faith itself was under assault, yet failed to know how to connect with the God I prayed to and acknowledged as my Lord. So began the exploration of the contemplative life. Recognising that many of the things that captured my attention were no more than distractions, I had to let go of things to create space for God. I couldn’t have my cake and God too. It was a choice. God set the terms. I chose the degree to which I would sign up to such terms.

Slowly I recovered a sense of God’s presence. Then I began to desire God more than things that had once fascinated me. I feared I was becoming boring; loving God and not interested in much besides. Yet, as I learned more of my vocation, I settled in this reality. My life became increasingly centred on God. I knew who I was, and why I was born.

Encountering God at a personal level is the reality of the Christian life. You are invited to exchange the distractions that engage you and experience the continuous presence of God. God alone will teach you how to live to the fullest extent. It will mean relinquishing control over your own life and exchanging your preferences for God’s purpose. The reward? Fullness of life.

QUESTION

How open are you to create space for God in your life?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, teach me how to live life to the full with you.

PHOTO – CMSI team at New Horizons