Laughing Waters

PATIENCE AND PRAYERS

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 9: 11-13

What do you collect?  Not everyone, but most people collect some sort of item.  For example, my husband collects turtle figurines, and my mother-in-law collects snowmen – each have well over one hundred because family members purchase them as gifts.  The items that I collect are a bit different, as you can’t purchase them in a store.  I collect rocks with intended holes in them.

Growing up on Lake Superior, I always found myself feeling the closest to God while walking by myself up and down the shorelines.  During these times, I would pray long and hard, feeling His presence and talking with Him.  One day in particular I was praying and I don’t exactly remember what I was praying about but I remember I wanted to hear from God, have that special “hug” from Him, and know He was there with me.  I walked until I found what I felt was a “special” area of shoreline, sat down upon the multitudes of rocks and sand granules, shut my eyes, and prayed – feeling the wind upon my face, the sun’s heat warming my body, and listening to the waves.  After many minutes I opened my eyes, brushed the sand off my butt as I slowly stood up, and went to gather my personal items that I brought with me.

As I reached down for my bag, I noticed within a foot from where I sat, there were exactly 7 rocks, all a deep bluish/gray color – and all had a small thumb print size indentation in them.  To me, that was God telling me that He was there with me – that was Him speaking to me.

I scooped up the rocks, saving them and placing them on my bedroom window sill when I went home.  I have been on many “prayer walks” along the shoreline since, and in many cases after praying I would look down in the sand and there would be another similar rock.  Do I feel these incidences are coincidental? No, to me it is God’s way of telling me that he loves me and is there with me.

What do I hope you take from this story?

 I hope that you are encouraged to pray and talk with God.  You can always talk with him, whether you are in your “special” place or not.

I hope that you are patient enough to listen to God’s voice.  God is always listening to you and will at times speak to you whether it me a voice you hear or through another communication method between you and Him.  Are my rocks very easy to find? No, it seems I am only given one of these rocks when I am patient and willing to listen for God.

In Jeremiah it says that God always listens to you when you pray and that if you seek Him you will find Him.  So I encourage you to pray and be patient enough to hear from Him too.

EM