Silent Listening, Yielded Following

"Anxiety and misgiving proceed solely from love of self. The love of God accomplishes all things quietly and completely; it is not anxious or uncertain. The Spirit of God rests continually in quietness. Perfect love casteth out fear. It is in forgetfulness of self that we find peace. Happy is he who yields himself completely, unconsciously, and finally to God. Listen to the inward whisper of His Spirit and follow it—that is enough; but to listen one must be silent, and to follow one must yield." ~Fenelon


This is at least the 7th or 8th reminder (could be more, I've lost count!) in the last two days of the necessity of being still and quiet before the Lord if I want to know how He's continually directing my way. I get so caught up in the busyness of life that I don't take the time to sit quietly at Jesus' feet so I can hear Him speak.

My Martha-being sees all that needs to be done and plunges right in (after making a to-do list, of course, even if it is a mental one). I make time for a quiet time first thing in the morning, but much of the time my mind is on other things, instead of focused on Him. I long to have Mary's heart, one that doesn't begrudge the time it take to quiet myself.

Yesterday as I walked at the park a few blocks from my house, the audio book I was listening to came to the end of the tape . . . and I'd forgotten to bring the next one. And even though this book is so familiar to me that I can almost quote passages from it, I experienced a momentary irritation with myself. Then the thought came that maybe, just maybe, I could use the rest of the time in prayer, focused on why the Lord kept bringing in His not-so-subtle reminders that I needed to be quiet. Hmmmm . . .

While I didn't "hear" a whole lot, I came home in a much more peaceful frame of mind. And this morning in my quiet time, I actually spent a good portion of it quietly waiting on Him. And I came out of that time refreshed and energized for today's agenda. Still waiting for clear direction in several areas, so I'm yielding my anxiety and care to Him . . . again.