Storms & skies – Jimmy Cullingford, HM Wales
This is what I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to seek Him in His temple.
When there are storms at sea, some say that whilst there is white water and the waves crash down, 20ft beneath the surface it is calm. Beneath the surface, the hidden currents move unhindered by storms, like the Atlantic Gulf Stream.
Or, look to the skies, and see the buzzard or the eagle. When they see oncoming storms, they lock their wings, hit a thermal and rise above the storm, sometimes going so high they have ice on their backs.
Intimacy with God allows us to go deep or ride high. Both routes can seem scary and foolhardy for the uninitiated. But for those who know the way, these places are where they, quite simply, meet with God. In these places you experience God speaking directly to your hearts and souls, encouraging, nourishing, guiding, strengthening, comforting. Intimacy with God – letting God love you, teach you, heal you, redirect you.
And these places? Where are they? People call them “thin places” or “thin silences”. These are physical/tangible places where God’s presence is tangible. You feel at home. For me there are 2 places: St David’s, Pembrokeshire, Wales and Skirrid Mountain , Abergavenny, Wales . When I go to these places I know I am going to meet God. And I go because of this. Often when my life has gone off course, I go there to be earthed by God, to be refocused back to HIS vision for me. I go seeking, angry, bewildered, fearful, questioning. I run, I shout, I cry, I walk, I crawl, I go as I am. And in a bird song, or creaking tree, or the blindness of fog, or silence, God speaks to me.
“Thin silences”/”Thin places” are where you find God. It could also be an activity which you do, or a memory of when God’s presence is so tangible. For both pray into the activity/memory and thank and praise God, and ask HIM to meet with you again.
Thin places, Thin silences, allow God to be intimate with you. And they can seem scary or foolhardy, because you are allowing God to love you, as Love is meant to be done. As humans we know what it is to love and to be loved. But God’s love is so intense, so far reaching, so encapsulating. Intimacy with God, wow!
A place where you can be yourself with God, no matter what is going on in the surface of your life, a place where God can Love you, and move you in the hidden ways.
Some thoughts for you:
- Where can you go to hear God? Where is your spiritual home? Where is your “thin place/silence”?
- Read Psalm 139. Reflect on David’s thoughts about God’s knowledge of us? What does it mean to you? How does it make you feel?
- Many of us grew up believing that every time Jesus is close to us, HE wants us to do something: read your Bible more, pray more, share your faith more, go to church more etc. How would it change your view of Jesus if you believed HE doesn’t want you to do anything – HE just wants to be close to you?
- Is your life filled with too much noise to hear God? What are some things you could do that would free up some space to breathe deeply again?
Calm me, O Lord, as you stilled the storm
Still me, O Lord, keep me from harm
Let all the tumult within me cease
Enfold me, Lord, in your peace
Jimmy Cullingford, HM Wales
www.history-makers.org
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