“I am not an expert on prayer, but I AM an expert on the silence.” Sue Thomas

Sue spent 70 years in absolute silence. She went from hating and despising her silence, to accepting it and then embracing it as a dear friend.

She loved to often remind us that it is in the silence where we truly can hear the still small voice of God speaking to us.

With technology constantly at our fingertips, our atmosphere is filled with audio-visual distractions.

Have you ever caught yourself reaching for your phone while in the middle of praying? I confess, I have! Something randomly pops into my mind and I need the satisfaction of an immediate answer! So I push the Lord of heaven and earth aside and reach for my phone. Forget God. Google is going to have all the answers I need!

Whoa!

James 1:5 says that if you need wisdom, you can ask our generous God who loves to give and will not rebuke us for asking.

He IS wisdom. In fact, an awareness of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9

Put down the phone. Forget Google. There is nothing better than to have God and His wisdom at our fingertips instead.

~Deb

“He gives the very best to those who leave the choice to Him…” was displayed in a frame on Sue Thomas’s Steinway baby grand piano in the living room. She knew it was true and loved the daily reminder.

We only see the underside of the tapestry of our lives from our earthly perspective. From down here it appears to be a random tangled mess.

Our Father-King sees our lives from the other side and knows the whole finished picture. He is busily but quietly working something orderly and beautiful that will last throughout all of Eternity.

We have to trust that He does truly know what He’s doing by allowing difficulties in our lives. Nothing in our lives is purposeless. As He reminds us in His Word, He works all things together for our eternal good and for His eternal glory.

The quote is taken from a poem often simply called, The Tapestry. It was one of Corrie Ten Boom’s favorite poems to quote when she spoke and she often would reveal this very tapestry that Sue is showing in this photo. It is on exhibit at the Corrie Ten Boom House in Haarlem, Netherlands.

“My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.

Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.”

(Grant Tullar)

The life of Levi is a tale of redemption. Of something battered and broken being turned into something beautiful that brought blessing to others.

When Doreen, The Hearing Dog trainer, found him at a dog pound he was already on the schedule to be euthanized because he was considered unadoptable.

But her new client, Sue Thomas, had insisted that the hearing dog must be a golden retriever and this was the only one available.

Doreen spent days lying on the floor quietly winning the trust of a dog who could barely pick his head up. When he finally made eye contact, she felt hope, but knew it was going to take time for healing. He had suffered terribly at the hands of abusers.

After redemption comes restoration and then being released to be used.

He came to Sue with the name, Levi. In Hebrew, it means “attached to” and she felt they were pretty attached. He was her ears. He broke the sound barrier for her in life.

God has given us each something to do that is important for the proper functioning of the entire body. Not one part of the body can say to the other, ‘I have no need of you’. Or what if the ears were to say, ‘because I’m not an eye, I’m not important’ and then quit functioning? Just like Sue needed Levi to alert her to sounds, Levi also needed Sue. She gave him an important purpose for living.

Even when he was in the pound, broken and useless, God had His hand on him and saved him from certain destruction because He had a plan and purpose for that little furry creature.

We are just like Levi. We might not seem to have a big plan or important purpose or that anyone even notices. But if we are faithfully doing what God has put before us even in the smallest of things, the whole body will benefit.

Today because of the TV show, Levi’s name is known around the world. I’ve even heard of other dogs named Levi because of the one in the TV series!

Now, I cannot promise you that you will be known around the world for faithfully doing what you’re called to do, but I can assure you that the Lord Himself will notice and He will smile on you.

And your heart will smile back.

After all, the real Levi never knew he was famous or that there would be a TV show about him! He was just faithfully doing what he was called to do, being the ears for Sue Thomas. And the only approval he needed was her smile as he waited expectantly for her words, “Good job, little one.”

This quiet spot in the Garden of the Master seems to draw people. It is Sue’s final resting place on this Earth and it’s a peaceful place to pray, to reflect, or to just rest.

The other day several of us gathered here to pray.

A brother and sister, their friend, and their mother.

And we wept as we prayed.

For a long lost sinner has come home.

For the past decade Sue had been praying for this young woman who was in and out of prison, on and off the streets, and overdosed too many times to remember.

She was baptized a few weeks ago. The moment I looked into her eyes I knew there was a change. I saw Jesus.

So I encourage you, don’t give up praying for someone just because you don’t see an immediate answer.

It may take years.

It may not happen in your lifetime.

But your anguished cries and prayers do not fall on deaf ears.

God is listening and answering. In His own timing.

Sometimes we are asked to plant a seed. Someone else comes along and waters it. We leave this life not seeing anything at all sprout from that seed.

Do you see the tiny blue forget-Me-nots peeking out from under the ferns?

Don’t forget He see the bigger picture and has all Eternity to work out His purposes.

As we finished praying and were standing there in sacred silence, I had one more request of the Lord.

“Father, please let Sue know her prayers for Brooke were answered!”

You see, I’m convinced there’s rejoicing in the presence of the angels over this lost sheep that has been recovered. The angels look on and wonder as they don’t know what it is to be redeemed

But in the presence of those angels are redeemed humans such as Sue, who prayed fervently…

…today she is rejoicing to see what God has done!

So be still
and know
He hears.

The 21 foot Cross Light at WaterBrooks Prayer Retreat reminds us of this:

The darker the world is around us,
the brighter our light will shine
against the blackness
when we stay constantly plugged in
through prayer
to the Source of our energy and strength,
Jesus Christ.