The Power of Meditation

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalms 46:10

Today’s Reading: Psalms 46-48; Acts 28

I had a conversation recently with a friend about meditation. We were talking about how powerful it is, how when we are able to reach that place where we can let go, we are connected to something that is wonderfully powerful, beyond measure.

This brought me back to the time where this blog was born; the ten day fast that I did in September of 2007.

Many years had passed since I had really spoken to God. Sure God was around and maybe I hollered at him every now and then when I thought I needed him, but I was in an utter state of confusion. I couldn’t see anything clearly.

Then I decided to do the master cleanse and unplug from the TV and Internet for 10 days.

The experienced changed my life.

When I look back on it I see that the power of that experience wasn’t in the lemon drink or the salt water flushes. The power was in the silence. When everything was shut off my spirit was able to shake off the burden of the noise in my mind and finally exercise its wings again. In the silence I was able to hear what God wanted me to hear. I was able to listen.

The times that I spent meditating and reconnecting with God were so powerful and so comforting. It was like going back home and realizing that I never left.

For several years prior to this I spent so much time trying to solve all of the spiritual problems of the universe that I had forgotten what my position was. In the attempt to understand God, I gradually started trying to do his work. I tried to answer the questions that only He can answer. I tried to solve the puzzles that only he can solve.

But when I became quiet I was able to see clearly and know without a doubt that He is God. Not me.

Often times we don’t know the next step we are supposed to take in life because we spend too much time talking and not enough time listening. Give listening a chance sometime. Find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted and just close your eyes and sit there. No music. No soothing meditation sounds. Just silence.  If your mind starts racing about random topics, let it race. Listen to what it is saying without trying to control or judge it. Let it talk freely and observe what it has to say. Eventually it will tire itself out and go silent.

This is when the miracle begins.

From this silence the spirit will burst forth. It will sing the songs that God wants to speak into your life. This is what inspiration is for me. It is when we are blessed with ideas and visions and dreams that are bigger than our small minds. They are so big and beautiful for our lives that it is clear that they are not ours.

Then when you open your eyes you will see what I saw and continue to see. What once was foggy is now clear. And in that clarity you will know the next steps to take to make your dreams come true.

The only question is… do you have the courage to take the first step?

If you don’t have some crazy, miraculous epiphany the first time, that’s cool. Keep trying. Having the patience to reach a state of quiet is very difficult. It takes work and patience.

But I promise that if you put in the work, you will reap the fruit one hundred fold.