Romans 8:26-28
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Some of you will probably find this morbid… or weird… but I like to visit the cemetery. I don’t go often, but when I do, I always feel the presence of God. The family cemetery where many of my great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even my grandfather, dad and brother are buried is a beautiful, serene place. This time of year, you can see Sugar Loaf Mountain through the trees. You can hear geese and ducks on Magness Lake, and cattle graze in the adjacent pasture. I have been to this cemetery on bitterly cold days, and days when it was beastly hot. I’ve stood there in downpours and a chilling drizzle. And Saturday when I visited, the weather was sunny, breezy, and unseasonably warm for December 1st.
Can I be real with you? The last few days, I have truly not known what to pray… for a variety of reasons. We all have these times in our life… times when the words will not come… when we cannot collect our thoughts into something that makes sense. So when I visited the cemetery on Saturday to place flowers on several graves, I spent some time just sitting very quietly… looking at the beauty around me… and listening for God. I have to tell you, I left there feeling like I really didn’t hear much in return… until today.
When I read this passage, it was as if God said, “I heard your groanings. I un-jumbled your thoughts. I know what you were thinking and feeling… I felt your wordless sighs…and I’m on it!” I cannot tell you how much better this made me feel. I get it that God understands our thoughts even when we can’t express them… but when you hit a “dry spell” for several days where you feel like your prayers don’t make a lick of sense, it can be a little unsettling. I find myself thinking, “I have so many things I want to place before God… why can’t I articulate them?” THIS is when God’s spirit lifts us and carries the load. THIS is when He hears and interprets what makes no sense… even to us! THIS is great news and should bring us tremendous comfort!
I don’t know what is happening in your life today… finals, health issues, job challenges, family dynamics, loss of some kind – or even the stress of the holidays and more. But I do know this… if you will sit quietly and just “be” for a while, God will hear your inner groans and sighs. If you will remain faithful and simply come before His presence, God will unscramble your thoughts and make sense of them… and He will work things out for you according to His perfect will.
You don’t have to go to a cemetery, a church, or even a quiet room to do be in God’s presence. You can accomplish this at your desk, in your car, or wherever you find yourself. All you have to do is sit still and say, “Here I am, LORD.” He will do the rest. Aren’t you tired of waiting? Aren’t you ready for God to help you along? Isn’t this a great time to begin?
©2012 Debbie Robus
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