The Cross on the island at WaterBrooks in Vermont
I’m a true lover of the old sacred hymns – no words can penetrate my being as the hymns of long ago written and inspired by the word of God.
Every day I begin my day with the words, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning, my song shall rise to Thee.”
Another favorite old chorus goes, “He hideth my soul in the cleft of the Rock that shadows a dry thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His Love, and covers me there with His hand.”
The last four days we have rested beneath the shadow of His Hand on the campus of EI School of Biblical Training in Greenville, South Carolina. What a blessing it has been as renewed strength came through fellowship with Him in the unbroken quiet times! This campus has a wonderful ministry called Waterbrooks Refuge, which is a place set aside for renewing and restoring those who are tired. We were also refreshed with the outpouring of love from new friends that have become family united in spiritual harmony. Yes, the discovery of this place has been an affirmation from the Lord, as it is a model of what God had placed in my heart many years ago, and what we are building in the green mountains of Vermont! Surely God has ordained our steps this week!
The days at Waterbrooks Refuge brought forth a quietness for me that was different from our time at the ocean. At the ocean, the sight of the waves brought peace to the body as it matched the rhythm of our breathing. But the last few days it has been the perfect stillness and the acute sense of the Presence of God that brought the melody to my heart, “The Lord Is In Holy Temple.”
The silence drew me to Him and I so felt I had entered with Him in that sacred place that my soul broke forth with the words, “The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silent before Him. Keep silent, keep silent, before Him.”
The communion was so sweet and my spirit so in awe that I dare not make a sound. I did not want to disturb…I did not want the moment to be broken, I simply wanted to remain in that time, in that place where I felt the overwhelming Presence of my God.
Oswald Chambers wrote, “A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, “I know that God has heard me.” His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy— silence.” (My Utmost For His Highest)
As I ponder my own experience, I realize I can come into His Holy Temple at any time but I must also be silent… I must totally be silent before Him. My spirit cannot be troubled, nor can I bring any problems, or confusion of mind. As I come before Him I must be completely empty of myself and my surroundings. It is only when I reach this sacred state of nothingness before Him, standing in all my nakedness and silence, that I can truly appreciate what a privilege it is to stand before the Creator of the Universe, the Great I AM. I feel so small, but He draws me to Himself and only then can I begin to converse with Him as my Heavenly Father, my Friend. For it is only when I come to His holy temple in the silence that I can begin to understand who He is and what He is.
His silence beckons me to come, to behold His majesty and power. He commands the earth, the things of this world…my flesh…to be silent before Him. Only then will He speak.
Sue Thomas Ministries 