O, Still Small Voice of Calm

Yesterday was one of those days that are a whirlwind.  By the time it was over, i was completely exhausted and drained emotionally.  Nothing bad happened; i simply allowed myself to overbook the day and paid the consequence.  In my blog post yesterday, i ended by praying that i, and those who read my post, would spend the day anointing the feet of Jesus.  That's not how i spent my day, though certainly service to others was involved.  That service was not the focus of my day.  Instead, my focus was on gritting my teeth and getting through the day--not a wise way to face the challenges of the day.  It didn't help that i didn't feel particularly well yesterday, something that is quite unusual for me.  Perhaps i had a little bug that kept me from being at my best.

This morning as i prayed, i tried to sort out my feelings about yesterday in my conversation with God.  Phrases from the Whittier poem that we sing as "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, forgive our foolish ways" kept popping into my head.  One stanza ends with these lines:

Let sense be dumb,

Let flesh retire,

Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,

O still small voice of calm.

i realized that is what my day lacked yesterday.  i allowed the "wind" of the day to prevent me from listening for that "still small voice" that would have brought me calm had i stopped long enough to listen for it.  i confess that i am still not entirely at peace.  i have many responsibilities facing me today, but instead of allowing the day to take control and beat me up, i'm going to try and listen for the voice of God that is there.  i may not be entirely successful, but i won't feel guilty if i'm not, because i know that God is at work in my life and it is God that will do the work of transformation, not me.

My prayer this morning is that each of us will listen for the "still small voice of calm" speaking "through the earthquake, wind, and fire" of our lives.