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August 28 A Non-anxious Presence

The purposes of the heart are deep waters, but a person with understanding can draw them out. ~Proverbs 20:5 


How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with You. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ~Psalm 139:18 & 23-24 

People take time. In chaplaincy work, when so often, the person before me is facing a crisis, and or a difficult decision, it is common for me to practice the art of being a non-anxious presence for them. This simply means being present just for them. I’m not distracted by phone calls or texts or paperwork or my to do list or my next appointment. 

Time is suspended for the moment while I just sit with them; available to pray, if that’s what they want; available to talk, available to be what they need from another human being while I am with them. I try to help to set a mood of calm in the middle of their storm and offer His peace. People take time. 

The purposes of the heart certainly are deep waters. Most of us miss that about one another today. We are caught up in schedule, appointments, the latest, distractions. We ourselves spend most of our time on the surfaces of our own lives. To actually take the time to delve into another, well, there just isn’t time! Sadly, so many today don’t even want to sit with themselves. They don’t want to run the risk of going there, in the deep places of their thoughts that their busyness is trying to hide. 

People take time. God made us that way. Relationships take time. God planned it that way. Chaos only takes a moment to create, but building takes time. Distraction robs us of time but focus guides time into purpose. People take time. A person with understanding knows this and can be patient. That which is in the deep waters will surface eventually, but it takes time. Being present, building trust, provides for the calm and safe place for the deep thoughts to emerge. A person of understanding knows how to wait, be appropriate and draw them out. 

People take time. God also takes time. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.” Your quiet time with the Lord is not just for you. It is your non-anxious time to let God open to you. Are you a calm place for Him, or is it all about you and your to do lists and your sufferings and your accusations? Are you a safe place for Him to open up and reveal His deep waters to you? It should be a quiet, protected time for a reason. God may need time to know that He is safe, that you are really listening, that you really care, before He begins to share the deep waters of His heart. 

God, and His people take time. Relationships take time. Listening takes time. It is time well spent, to get to know another, to get to know your Savior. Time is a gift. A gift given for others is well given. Consider the gift of time He has lavished on us. “He makes all things beautiful in His time.” 

Prayer: Father, this is me talking, but what I want to say is, when I am done talking, I will listen. Help me make sure I give you all the time you need from me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Song: Be Still and Know 



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