Directed by His Heartbeat

I find myself, my identity on Daddy’s lap.  Here I climb when I am afraid, when I am lonely, when I am happy.  I snuggle close to my Father God, sometimes looking up into his eyes so I can see who I am reflected there, other times eyes closed, just enjoying his embrace. 

Lately I find myself climbing up into my place on his lap, laying my head on his strong chest and listening to the comforting beat of his heart.  I am learning to allow his heartbeat to direct mine.  From that vantage point I can hear and feel what quickens the heartbeat of God, what delights his heart, what grieves his heart. 

On Thursday nights I climb up on the Father’s lap at the Shore House of Prayer.  I join my siblings in God’s family, Ann Dillon, Chris Spaloss, Jim Spaloss, Pat Newell, Joe Bei and others, on Daddy’s huge lap, all of us with our heads touching, ears pressed against the Father’s broad chest, listening to his heartbeat.  “What are you seeing?  What are you feeling? What are you thinking, Daddy?” we ask.  And we pray, sing and declare with great joy what we hear in that wonderful place of intimacy.

“These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.” Isa. 56:7

Learning to Breathe Underwater

Patricia came to quilt class this week with a strange announcement.  “God told me to sew the blocks together without pins.”

Now I am a pinner.  Pinning keeps the blocks aligned as you stitch them into rows, and then stitch the rows together to form the body of the quilt.  If the alignment is off as you sew together the components, the entire quilt is off.  But what could I say to Patricia?  If God told you to sew without first pinning, who am I to suggest otherwise.

So, Patricia sewed the blocks into rows, carefully lining up the edges, without pins.  And the rows looked fabulous. 

A few days later I was in my prayer room one morning and got the sensation that I was at a sparkling, blue pool of water, and God was telling me, “Dive in”.  I love how God knows me.  He knows that I love to be in the pool. It’s one of the highlights of my yearly vacationto Williamsburg, VA.  God also knows that I love, have always loved swimming underwater, completely immersed.  I am not a diver, had no idea the depth of the pool or if it was even safe to dive in, but God was telling me to dive in and I did and I felt the wonderful water all around me as I hit the water.

As I swam that morning in prayer, I remembered what my pastor, Brett Conover had shared with the church some time ago.  “We are learning to breathe underwater.”

We are learning to go where God directs, do what he tells us to do, even when it looks quite impossible, or even kind of crazy.  Like sewing without pins.  Like laying hands on a building and calling forth its destiny as a House of Hope. Like diving into a 21 day prayer journey throughout Europe and trusting God for words and prayers in each location. 

“Do you trust me?” God asks.  “Dive in.  Follow my heart and you will learn that you CAN breathe underwater.”

Better is One Day....

I read in God’s Word today, “Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you” Ps. 84:4.  Hmmm.

 “So, God”, I asked.  “Are they praising you because they are blessed, or are they blessed because they are praising you?”

I believe I heard God’s answer in one word, said with a grin, “Yes.”

What is it about being in God’s house, in his presence that makes me blessed, that causes me to praise him? 

We have two cats at home.  The nice cat is Inky; the not so nice cat we affectionately call Lumpy.  Inky is quick to run to the door when we come home, just like a dog, and loves to jump on your lap anytime you sit down.  Lumpy is a standoffish cat; you pet her twice and then she bites you.  Jimmy says she is the kind of cat that makes men hate cats.  But I often find both cats will come into my sewing room and lay by my feet for hours while I sew.  They don’t need to be on my lap, or be petted or attended to.  They just want to be with me.

Have you read about the birds that liked so well being in God’s house that they moved in? “Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young – a place near your altar…” (Ps. 84:3) And God not only let them stay, he also recorded it in scripture so we would understand that if birds can move into his presence and find a home there, how much more can we who are made in his image.

So I take a lesson from the birds, and the cats.  Rest in God’s presence.  Hang out there.  Move right in and take up residence. There you will find a place to rest.  There you will find a place to nest.  It’s a safe place, a warm place, a place where you will be blessed, and you will sing forth God’s praises.