This past week was the color green in our Christmas series.  And, using Psalm 23, Pastor John preached a timely message on God’s presence, provision, and peace at Christmas. He emphasized that Jesus, our Good Shepherd has promised to “give us everything we need for life and godliness” so we can grow up in Christ. And in the message, he referred to a book that our Bethany men used as the basis of a fall Wednesday night men’s study- The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.  That book and I have a strange history.

In September when Jerome announced the study, I remember thinking, “Hm… that’s an odd topic for a men’s study.  But Jerome always does a great job, I’m sure it will be fine.” Somebody [not me] obviously needs it.

A few weeks later, I was talking with Chris & Kathy, my friends and spiritual directors who live in Virginia.  We zoom a couple of times a month.  They ask great questions, truly listen for God’s voice, and we have wonderful spiritual conversations together.  Chris said, “Hey, I want to recommend to you a book I’ve been reading.”

“Oh?” I said.

“It’s ‘The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.’”

[pause]

“That’s interesting, it’s the book our men are reading for our fall study up here at Bethany.” I told him, guardedly.

“You want me to send you a copy?” he asked.

I’m not interested in another book.  I’ve got a stacks of books to read at church and a stack by the couch in the living room AND a stack upstairs by my bed. All of them are “good books”, half of them have been started, and none of them have been finished. I don’t need another “good book”.

“No. I’ll ask Jerome if he has one.” I said half-heartedly.

I knew I needed to follow through on this because Chris will ask.  That’s the type of guy he is.  He writes stuff down. He remembers. So, I grudgingly asked Jerome if he had an extra copy. But he told me he’d given them all out. Whew.  I dodged the bullet on that one.

The next day I go in my office and there sitting on my desk is a copy of the book.

I text Jerome.  “One of the guys turned his in, so I gave it to you.” He said.

“OK, God. I get it.”

There’s a Bible verse that I always fall back on for stuff like this.  “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (1 Corinthians 13:1).  I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but when God confirms something three times, it’s time to move.

I started to read the book back in October and as I did, a paragraph on page 54 jumped out at me.  Wow, that’s really good. I folded down the corner of the page and wrote, “write a devo on this” on my to-do list  Time went by and I never wrote the devotional.  Then John preached his message last weekend which brought it all back up.  So, I dug out my copy and found the paragraph.  It still resonated with me and since this is now the fourth time God has brought this book across my path, I think I’d better share it.

And here it is:

So many people live without a sense of God’s presence through the day.  We talk about his absence as if it’s this great question of *theodicy.  And I get that: I’ve been through the dark night of the soul.  But could it be that, with a few said exceptions, we’re the ones who are absent, not God?  We sit around sucked into our phones or TV or to-do lists, oblivious to the God who is around us, with us, in us [and] even more desirous than we are for relationship.

[*trying to explain God’s apparent absence in the world & the problem of evil]

Ouch.

And so, after three months I now pass the challenge on to you.

If you ever wonder, why things are kind of dry spiritually or why you don’t consistently feel the presence of God or hear his voice. If you look at your life and there’s something missing- love, joy, or peace. Or you notice a marked delta between how the Bible describes walking with God and what you’re currently experiencing…  the problem is probably the way we’re choosing to live our lives.  It’s not that God’s absent or that Christianity doesn’t work, but that we’ve not created the space or made the time to actually hear from Him.  And so, day by day, God politely stands by, waiting to speak, desiring to guide us while we run here and there and fill our lives with noise, distraction, and busyness. He literally can’t get a word in edgewise.  And we will NEVER hear from God until we make some changes.

In his sermon, John mentioned 4 practices that are expounded on in the book- silence and solitude, sabbath, simplicity and slowing.  These are a great place to start.

But for me, the ah-ha moment is much simpler.  Most always, tshe reason I experience spiritual want, thirst and exhaustion isn’t because God is in some way absent, but  because I refuse to lie down in the green pastures or linger beside the still water that he provides.

Sometimes it helps to just get real.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul. (Psalm 23:1-2)