"Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Luke

It’s late and you’re listening for a car pulling into the driveway or seeing the headlights that you’ve been watching for shining in your window.

You breathe a silent prayer of thanks. Your teen is home safely!

As I meditated on today’s reading from Luke, I thought about all those years of watchful waiting for my kids. Then I wondered if the servants felt the sense of relief that I used to when the master got home and they could go to bed.

It was lovely of the master to bless the servants for their vigilance – not something you get from your children until it’s their turn to worry. But parents at least know when the “master” has come, allowing them to relax their vigilance.

So how do we apply this to waiting for the Lord? How do we even know what to listen for or how to detect his presence? We can’t be vigilant all the time. 

I stumbled onto my answer while taking solitary daily exercise walks. Almost by accident, I would find my mind meandering in the silence as answers to prayers or problems bubbled up from somewhere. Was God telling me something?  It began to seem that way.

Now I count on this when I’m worrying or trying to solve a problem. All it takes is setting aside 15 or 20 minutes for silence.
You can meditate, enjoy your garden or a park or just walk around the block. Get away from the electronic devices that continuously distract us. Silence your cell phone. Your messages can wait while you open yourself to hear messages from the Lord and feel his presence in your life.  

Let God cut through the clutter of your life by regularly opening yourself to him in silence. You may be amazed to hear God loud and clear if you just create the silence to listen for his arrival – even without the aid of shining headlights or banging car doors!