Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Psalms 27:4 - One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. (NIV)You know, when I was younger, I never really understood the meaning of this verse. I mean yeah, sure, understandably, David would want to seek out a God who is the most powerful being of the universe in an attempt to know His heart, know the workings of His mind. But to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord? Why would anyone want to do that?
Like can you imagine? Just sitting there and staring at God. Like eh, nothing better to do ah? Why don't you ask Him a question? :)
Then, I went walking in Carlton Gardens and it's like in that moment of time, everything became so crystal clear.
Imagine... a clear, cool Melbourne winter evening where the sun hovers somewhere between afternoon and night, casting a soft, almost orange glow on the path before you. A path littered with leaves the colour of autumn; rustic brown, yellow, the occasional red.
Imagine... trees of different characters. Some standing tall and proud; others slumped almost as if their backs hunched. Some - succumbing to winter's chill - stand bare, devoid of foilage. Then there are some that almost seem to defy winter, showcasing thick leaves that rustle ever so softly in the breeze...
Imagine... imagine.
Because that's what I saw for the whole week that God was teaching me about beauty. :)
Standing there in the midst of nature and knowing that it is as its most dormant because it's winter and yet ... seeing the quiet enchantment of it all just makes me go: Wow. And there's just something about it all that makes my heart give out this huge sigh of relief and slow its beat down - almost as if it's calming my soul. I feel as though the world has stopped turning for that moment in time - as if everything else in my life fades away because, just because it really doesn't matter all that much anymore - well at that point in time anyway.
It's as if there's a crystal clear message scrawled across the picturesque scenery that tells me everything's going to be just all right - so don't worry. I don't know how and I don't know why I should let the majesty of nature affect me this way - but it just does.
And the thing is that it doesn't end with just me standing and watching the beauty that surrounds me; I actually walk away from the gardens with this "floaty" feeling inside of me. The feeling that I can do absolutely anything because there's nothing that can stop me; the feeling of wanting to hug people for sheer joy - to look at people in a new, non-judgemental light :)
And that's when the reality of what David said hit me - loud and clear. That's when I began to understand how totally marvellous, how awesome it is to just be in God's presence and enjoy His beauty. To not say anything but just BE in where He is and letting joy, love, hope, security and so much more just wash over me.
And I realize that's exactly how relationships develop and how they mature. Like, when we first meet someone, we're all gungho about wanting to grow the relationship and cement it ever so strongly. So we go all out to talk (and I really mean talk) to them: tell them who we are, where we're headed for in life, what we love doing... just basically me, myself and I. Added to that is this whole: Let's get to know you too! deal. So we ask about the other person, we get to know MORE about the other person; her interests, her life...
It's how we behave around God when we first meet Him. We ask Him to show us things about Himself, ask Him to speak to us. And for the me part, we ask Him to come through for us, we tell Him about what's going on in our lives...
But then just like how a relationship matures into those long but comfortable silences. It's not that we don't put as much time and effort as we first did in the beginning because the effort and the time remains the same. It's just the fact that we know each other much more by now that we can just sit in silence and just ... enjoy each other's presences. And a lot can be said in those complex silences; a lot can be conveyed.
And that's how it is with God. You come to this point where you don't really need to blab everything out to Him anymore. There's this feeling that He knows you (well He always has, it's just that you don't feel the need to actually tell Him about yourself in tons of words anymore :D). And the silence is really enough because that's all He really needs (at this stage) to show you His love, His glory and His unbelievable presence... and so in the silence, you just ... rest in His presence and ... get that "floaty feeling" :)
So may I suggest that (if you've not already done it) to get into His presence and just, be silent and enjoy what His beauty has to offer? :D
She thanks her Jesus at 12:53 AM
