Not prospering..

(Psalm 46: 10) "Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted above the earth."


"We are not prospering here." This was the lament of my child to me the other night as we took a cruise together around our neighborhood.

I have to share the back story on cruising here. It is one of my happiest memories of my teenage years and into my mid-twenties. During the years I took care of Mom, there were many nights my friends and I would go for a cruise up and down Central Ave. in Yonkers. It was in essence vehicle therapy, not to be mistaken with cubicle therapy which took place in bathroom stalls or coffee therapy which took place in diners.

I was first introduced to the idea of driving with no particular place to go by Mom. We would drive for the sake of it, chat, listen to great music and talk. As a young teen my dear friend Marli and I would drive for hours on end and do the same thing. In college I drove the neighborhood with my friend Lori. I won't tell you about the drives with Annie, in her Red Rabbit listening to "Just a gigolo" with my feet can-caning out the window...my kids might actually happen onto the blog and well, yeah, you get it. As a young woman falling in love, my meant to be husband and I would drive and drive and drive. We fell in love in that convertible, with the car in drive, not knowing the destination would be the alter.

The music was just as important as the company. The only ticket I have ever gotten was during a particularly great song that got my foot slammed down on the pedal. The trooper did not think I had a good reason. Sigh.

But my all time favorite road trip of all was with Barbara. We got the idea to go to Florida on Saturday afternoon over coffee and left the following Monday. We took the right of passage trip down I95 from NY and arrived the following day. We knew it was time for me to stop driving when I saw a sign for an Irish motel.

"Look Barb! An Irish place to stay...Sean's sun!" or at least that is how I read it.

Barbara asked,"Um, you mean Sea n' sun?"

We parked the car and called it a day!

Back to the comment by my daughter though. What does it mean to prosper in the Lord?

I learned in my mom's Chevy that when the hand clapping, foot stomping, and arm waving stops, there had better be some very deep roots there. The truth is that all of those things will stop at some point. We all have "dry seasons" with the Lord, and yet, I am not sure we are suppose to believe that means we are not prospering with Him. Sometimes, He calls us to know Him in His silence. Sometimes we have to be still and know that He is God based on the facts. Notice He does not call us to believe He is God but to know it. It is a fact, not a feeling and it is based on the Truth.

We can and will prosper in the Lord even when we don't see anything happening. The only thing that has changed in my testimony about the years I cared for Mom is time. The story, in the flesh, could have been told and re-told a million times by now. But He waited until I was properly seasoned with grace until this time.

I don't know why God has us where He does. I don't understand it at all. I would like to replant us somewhere else. That to me sounds like just the thing to do right now. Instead, I will be still and KNOW that He is God and He will prosper us where He chooses. He knows what He is about and I will, therefor, trust Him even when I don't see with my eyes what He is doing.

Anyone that has given birth to a child knows that what is growing in the silence of our wombs often will often determine the ability of our born child. When that child arrives to soon, they often have problems physically or sometimes they die. But when our children, whom we get to glimpse shadows of through ultrasound, are allowed to grow in silence, they arrive ready for the first stage of life on the outside! How like our God to allow us only glimpses of the splendor He is creating.

"Not prospering." I beg to differ. He is wild about us and He never fails. Never.



How about you?

Are you at a stand still right now? Are you wondering how you could possibly be growing in the Lord when you walking a tight rope of stress? Are you wondering if God is silent for a reason? Do long to hear His voice? Have you asked Him to check your heart for sin? Are you given the "all clear" in terms of it and yet, still, He is silent? Are you able to get yourself to some vehicle therapy or coffee/cubicle therapy?



Let's pray:

Father in the name of Jesus, we come and we seek you in the silence. Sometimes all we can go on are the facts. There is no greater thrill than to hear from You. I pray we are just as thrilled in our souls when You are silent, knowing You re about Your work. We worship You, even when the music stops, the car pulls over and our coffee cup is empty. Glory to your name on high, for You alone deserve our praise even in the silence. Amen.