Be still, and know that I am God… (Psalms 46:10) (NIV)
In our first years of marriage, I was an awkward husband. I didn’t know when to offer advice, when to listen, or when to give her a hug. After forty years, the message is finally penetrating my male skull, that holding her in silence is an act of potent healing.
Being held during suffering is sometimes even better than the removal of the problem. When someone wraps their arms around me and holds on, it says, “You are loved and your pain is my pain.” That embrace holds tight until I’ve had enough, and it demands nothing in return.
When asked by CBS newsman, Dan Rather, what she said to God in her prayers, Mother Teresa responded, “I don’t say anything, I listen.”
So the reporter asked what God said to her.
“God doesn’t say anything, he listens.”
Every moment, God offers the opportunity to be still and listen to one another. I wish I would step into that holy hug more often. Rushing into praise and intercession is good, but I also need to commune in silence.
From where his Spirit fits against mine, Father may guide me into a specific prayer direction. At times, it will be zeal against the powers of darkness or heartbreak over the world’s dysfunction, but mainly we’ll rejoice and rest together in his goodness. He’ll get his arms around me and draw me into his peace, or his burden, but always into his larger reality—where superfluous words only spoil the moment.
Prayer: Blessed God, hold me still in the center of all you are.