Be Still and Know God

“I walked back into the room and froze.      My wireless microphone was sitting in the bottom of my coffee cup.      I lived alone.      There wasn't another person in the house.      I just stood there staring...      and then I started laughing.”

For the first 70 years of my life,      I chased what most people call the American Dream.

You know the one      —

work harder,

make more money,

buy more stuff,

and repeat until retirement...

or until your blood pressure gives up.

I was an overachiever.

A competitive,      “I'll-outwork-everyone”      kind of person.

Every morning I woke up with another mountain to climb,

another bill to pay,

and the whole time,      trying to come up with another way to make a dollar.

I was busy...

but I wasn't happy.

Life wasn't exactly smooth sailing either.

I lived through two divorces,

and stress became a full-time roommate.

Even when things were going well,      there was a persistent tug deep inside my heart telling me,

"Bill...      there has to be more to life than this."

So I went searching.

I visited church after church,      hoping one of them would fill the emptiness inside me.

They all taught wonderful things,

but I still felt like I was standing outside a locked door,

wondering where the key was hidden.

Then I discovered something called      Sacred Heart Yoga.

Every morning I faithfully sat down and began the yoga with the same simple prayer:

"Lord, how may I serve You this day?"

I had been told this was an ancient method of prayer.

There was only one small problem—

for almost      two years,      I never got an answer.

Nothing.

Silence.

Crickets.

Looking back,      I can't help but laugh.

I can see clearly now that God had a plan.

I just wasn't able to see it then.

I was on a need-to-know basis,      and I didn't need to know God's plans for me.

I've since learned that God's plans are always 100 times better than any plan that I could concoct.

Back then,      I recorded the daily sessions of Sacred Heart Yoga and uploaded them to YouTube,      hoping that they might help someone else.

Meanwhile,      I was secretly thinking,

"I'm pretty sure Abraham wasn't unrolling a yoga mat every morning inside his tent."

Still,      I kept going.

Then something strange began happening.

Little by little,      I felt a growing conviction that it was time to stop doing these recordings every morning.

"But wait,"      I argued with myself.

"This is a good thing!      After all, I'm asking God how I can serve Him every day!"

Then my ego got in the way of God's plan.

The problem was...

I didn't know how to listen.

Sometimes we're more attached to our routines than we are to listening for God's direction.

Then one morning,      God decided that I wasn't listening to His subtle hints to me about quitting.

I got everything ready to record another session,

stepped away for just a minute to use the restroom,

and when I came back...

my wireless microphone was sitting in the bottom of my morning mug of coffee.

Not beside it.

Not near it.

Swimming in it.

The microphone was completely submerged,

and ruined.

Remember,

I lived alone.

There wasn't another person in the house.

I just stood there staring at my coffee.

Then I burst out loud with laughter.

I looked down at my coffee mug and I said out loud,

"Okay, Lord...      I understand Your message! I'll quit now."

For the first time in two years,

I had finally received an answer to my daily prayer.

It just happened to arrive submerged in a cup of coffee.

That morning changed everything for me.

It was an awakening.

God proved to me that He was real and had been there all along.

I just wasn't listening well enough to hear Him and obey.      I really thought that I could make deals with God,      instead of loving Him and obeying Him.

Instead of following my normal daily routine of Sacred Heart Yoga,

Each day, I simply became quiet before God.

No script.

No program.

No performance.

Just listening.

Every morning since then,      I set my alarm for      4:30 a.m.

Before my feet ever touch the floor,      I ask God a simple question:

"What do You want me to do today?"

And then...

I listen.

I put away my ego,      my desires,      and my self created to-do list.

Over time,      I learned that following God's will was      far more fulfilling,      than following my ego's makeshift ideas.

When I stopped trying to write my own story and started asking God to write it instead,

life became an adventure.

It became truly exciting.

Doors opened that I could never have opened myself.

Many things happened to me that I could never have planned,      or executed,      in a million years.

People crossed my path at exactly the right moment.

Problems found unexpected,      and even miraculous solutions.

Opportunities appeared that I could never have created on my own.

I discovered something I had been searching for all those years:

peace,      purpose,      and joy.

Not because life suddenly became easy...

but because I finally stopped trying to be the author of my own life.

I've learned that the greatest adventure isn't making my own plans.

It's discovering what plans God has for me.

You may not find your microphone floating in your coffee cup.

Then again,

it might happen...

if that's what God thinks is necessary to get your attention.

And don't be surprised that God has a wonderful sense of humor,

because He does.

God loves to give us joy,

and loves to hear us burst out loud with laughter.

Bill Bledsoe

Questions for prayer:
          What do these passages reveal about God?
          What response does it ask of me?
          Is the impression I receive consistent with the character and teaching of Jesus?
          What loving and faithful action should follow?

Daily prayer:

How may I serve You this day?”