Be Still

I went to church yesterday for the first time in several weeks. Summer's been busy and weekends fly by, and it's all too easy to place church down low on the priority list.  But I felt it tugging at me a bit. Truth be told, I've been feeling a little bit low of late. No one thing, no enormous thing, just the paper cuts of life leaving their sting. 

So I went with the hope that an hour in church would renew my spirit a bit, as it so often does.  I went with a prayer on my heart that God would speak to me there as He's done before.  It's the reason I've come to love my church so -- rare is the time I attend and don't take something meaningful away.  

And as the service went on, I felt...well, not really what I'd been hoping for.  The music was good, the message was fine, but it wasn't really connecting with me in the way I'd thought it might. Even when the pastor mentioned "those times when God speaks to us and we know it's Him."  Yes - I've experienced those times, and they're a large part of what informs my faith. But He wasn't really speaking to me yesterday.  

Then, at the end of the service, the lights dimmed, and the pastor engaged in a sort of "question and answer" prayer session with God.  He voiced a concern or doubt, speaking directly to God, and then, in turn, a verse would appear on the screen -- one which spoke to the question. I don't recall the pastor's first query, but the responsive verse was:  "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."

And for some reason, that prompted me to think of the times I've called out to God in sadness or doubt, and "heard" (in my head - not in a big out loud GOD voice): "Be still, and know that I am God."  So I thought, "Okay, maybe that's what I'm supposed to take away from today."  I thought on it a bit as the question-and-answer-prayer continued for a few minutes.  

And then the pastor was quiet and the lights dimmed completely. And then, a blue spotlight illuminated a lone pianist on stage.  And this is what he played:

I heard you, God.  Thank you.