It is a strange thing how the most significant relationships in our lives can sometimes feel like a radio station that has slowly drifted off-frequency as we drive further into the busy countryside of our daily lives.
I don’t know about you but I rarely wake up on a Monday morning and decide that I am going to embark on a spiritual sabbatical or intentionally distance myself from the Almighty, yet by Friday evening, I often find that the “cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches,” as our Lord described them in Matthew 13:22, have grown rather loud and demanding.
We may find ourselves caught in the thicket of work, projects, emails, caring for a relative, the relentless rhythm of the school run, or the heavy fatigue of simply keeping the household together and suddenly the quiet conversation of prayer feels like a language we have momentarily forgotten how to speak.
It is important for us to recognise that while we may feel a great chasm has opened up between our hearts and the Lord but the distance is entirely on our side of the fence. Our humanness, with all its frailty and its tendency to be distracted by the nearest shiny object or the most pressing anxiety, often leads us to withdraw (unintentionally) into a self-reliant shell where we try to solve everything by our own wit and wisdom.
We then might feel a sense of guilt or shame about this silence, as if we picture God as a disappointed headmaster waiting for us in the corridor with a stern look and a heavy ledger. However, the whole testimony of the Scripture suggests something entirely different. We are reminded with beautiful simplicity to “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” in James 4:8. The movement back towards the centre of our faith does not require a marathon of theological study, but rather a simple, humble turning of the face.
The character of God is not one of cold indifference or irritable impatience, but is perfectly captured in that most famous of parables where the father, seeing his son “still a long way off,” does not wait for an apology on the doorstep but rather he “ran and embraced him and kissed him” as recorded in Luke 15:20. THIS is the nature of the Father we serve; He is patient, kind, and remarkably forbearing, watching the horizon of our lives for the slightest sign that we are searching for Him. He understands the pressures of our lives, our work and the exhaustion of our spirits better than we do ourselves, and He is far more interested in our return than in lecturing us about our absence.
Charting a way to the foot of the cross, to the homestead of heaven, does not need a complete overhaul of our schedules, which is often impossible for most of us, but rather the intentional carving out of small pockets of time. These sacred minutes tucked into the commute, the washing up, or the quiet moment before the house wakes up, act as anchors for the soul. Whether it is reading a single Psalm or simply sitting in the stillness and acknowledging His presence, these moments allow the Holy Spirit to reorient our hearts.
We are invited to “cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” according to 1 Peter 5:7, and so, by turning our very worries into the raw material of our prayer life, you will find that He has been there all along, waiting with a gentle grace that is ready to restore and refresh you.
A prayer for the journey home
Heavenly Father,
I confess that I have allowed the noise and the busyness of this world to drown out the sound of Your voice, and I have wandered into a distance of my own making.
I ask for Your forgiveness for the times I have trusted in my own strength and forgotten that You are the source of all life and peace.
Please draw me closer to You this day, help me to find those quiet spaces to meet with You, and settle my heart in the knowledge of Your great love.
I ask this through Jesus Christ my Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Pax
Shaun
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