War Room

The Lord asks only this:  that we be in communion with Him and at the service of our brothers and sisters (Pope Francis: General Audience, Nov. 19th, 2014).

 

It comes down to this---only 2 things:  Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole mind, and your whole strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.  It is really very simple after all, but sometimes it takes a re-wording of the commandments to make us see it. 

 

What does it feel like to "be in communion with Him"?  Have we ever stopped to find out, to give it a chance, to "taste" it?  I remember when my youngest daughter was small -- she rejected cheesecake outright because of the name.  Wouldn't even take the tiniest taste.  Sounded horrible and disgusting.  Until the day she finally gave in and tasted it.  What a revelation!  "THAT'S cheesecake?!" Now it was her favorite dessert.

 

I am convinced that most of us refuse to "taste and see" the sweetness of the Lord because we think we must be doing something, that we must be in control of circumstances.  We think that "communion with God" is doing nothing because we have no idea that He will actually DO something about our circumstances. 

 

What if we decided to experiment with "communion with God" for one day?  What if we took a Sabbath Day for finding out what it feels like?  "Loving the Lord our God with our whole hearts" sounds like work, but what does "communion with God" actually feel like?  We have six days to work, but only one day to receive.  But most of us would prefer to work on the Sabbath rather than to lie down beside still waters and receive the love of God.  What if we lay down under a tree and closed our eyes and let our minds drift into the Reality that is God?  That's not "work," is it?  What if we went fishing and let the boat drift for awhile, closing our eyes -- or just gazing at the clouds? 

 

Most of us don't want to be still and KNOW that He is God.  It feels better to be in control, to be doing something, to be manipulating circumstances -- but what if we just stood still instead for awhile and let ourselves be loved by God? 

 

Sometimes it does not happen until our backs are up against the wall and we have nowhere to turn.  Then we are forced to be still and let ourselves be loved.  Yesterday, I saw the movie War Room.  It probably will not get much publicity because it is a Christian movie, but it is a very powerful experience, one that should be seen on the big screen.  It made me want to come home and pray, convinced me that the best thing we can do is to stand still and be in communion with God.  Sometimes our best strategy is to let Him do the fighting for us!