I love quiet moments when I become a sponge and God the water.

I love peaceful places where His Presence rises above every noise, every movement around me.

As He rises up over my life's chaos,

He catches my eye.

He draws me in.

He captivates me.

And nothing else matters.

Except Him.

I long for these quiet moments, because I know that without them I am nothing.

I know that without the peace and quiet He longs for me to seek, I cannot really seek Him.

And without Him, I am nothing but a whirlwind of crazy; and God doesn't have a lot of use for whirlwinds.

He definitely didn't choose to speak to Elijah through one even though He could have.

No, God wanted Elijah to lean in and listen closely.

He didn't want to take any chance on Elijah missing what He had to say.

His words mattered, and Elijah needed to hear them.

So, God chose whispering.

He chose a still, small voice to ask Elijah a great, big question.

"What are you doing here, Elijah?"

That was the question Elijah needed to answer on that day as he found himself hiding in a cave.

Are you hiding from anything today?

Maybe it's your past.

Maybe it's your present.

Maybe it's your future.

Maybe it's your pain.

Maybe it's your calling.

God longs for you to lean in and listen.

Maybe He has the same question for you today,

"What are you doing here?"

God says,

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

Psalm 46:10

He couldn't be more clear.

Be still and know.

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and I will be exalted among the nations.

Be still and I will be exalted in the earth.

When I sit in silence and allow my body to relax and my mind to focus on Him and Him alone,

something happens.

Everything about this life seems to fade away.

As one of my dad's favorite songs says,

"The things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."

I'm learning more and more every year of my life that this world offers very few opportunities to hear His whisper unless we intentionally choose to get away and be still.

I hope in 2014 you will choose to be still and listen for Him often.

When you do,

you will know that He is God,

and He will be exalted among the nations and in all the earth through your testimony.

That's why God says,

"Be Still."