Marinate

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 "We need to marinate in the darkness and process that we're walking through." Katherine Wolf Marinate is a word most of those familiar with cooking know. It's usually used in connection with meat or poultry and involves taking a cut of meat and allowing it to soak in various mixtures of herbs, oil, or some other mixture for the purpose of adding flavor. The "character" of what the meat is soaking in permeates the meat and it becomes a part of it. Do we ever think of what it is that the Father desires for us in our being still before Him and in Him? It isn't just to calm us, bring us peace, or slow everything around us down, though those are all good things. As we're still, we're to soak in, marinate in Him. In the stillness, we're to soak up as much of His life and character as we're able. As we're still, who He is is becomes a real part of who we are, yet how many of us ever actually experience this? In the stillness, He wants to communicate with us, teach us, deepen us. He wants to fill us to overflowing with the flavor of His life and personality. For me, Wolf's quote is filled with meaning. The deepest most revealing times in my life were when I was traveling through the darkness He'd allowed and having to process through communication with Him what it was He was seeking to say and do in me. Too many of us miss this. We just want to get through. It's been said that the first thing we ought to ask Him in any wilderness or darkness that He leads us into is, "Lord, what are you wanting to say to me here?" How often have we ever asked Him that question. I surely didn't the first time I entered such darkness. I just wanted out. I wasn't seeking for what I could learn or become, I just wanted it to be over. It was quite a while before I began to learn what it really meant to be still. One thing is certain for the true follower of Christ; there will be times of darkness in the journey. Don't waste them. Soak in His presence. Listen for His heartbeat and voice. Take on the flavor of who He is. Become more and more just who He created you to be. God will waste no one's time. In our stillness, He works. May we not waste the time. Blessings, Pastor O