Labyrinth Time

I took the scripture from my devotional with me to walk the labyrinth yesterday….first cool morning in months! It was lovely outside, with a little breeze and lots of happy, chirping birds. As I walked, I was trying to concentrate and read some of 2 Samuel that I had brought with me, but ya know, I hadn’t cleaned up all the sheaths yet and I got distracted. It wasn’t till I walked in and saw all these bamboo stalks on the ground that I figured out the “bigger” problem. I heard myself say out loud, “We need more labyrinth time”…

In my time of need I called upon the Eternal One;
        I called to my True God for help.
    He heard my voice from His temple,
        and my cry came to His ears.

II Samuel 22:7 ~ The Voice Version

…and we all need labyrinth time! Life gets messy, no doubt, so we need that set apart space to navigate from. The oasis of “be still and know” time, set aside in our day, each day is where our steps are made firm and sure.

Just like our labyrinth becomes a mess, we don’t notice it at first, but it happens over time. There is, of course, just the regular stuff…leaves and a few branches falling from the constant breeze we have here, but life has its storms that sneak up on us. The Labyrinth’s “storm” looks like a few cute squirrels who have decided to eat away at the new bamboo and because I wasn’t out here every day, I had no idea! They have been chewing off the tops about 20 feet up in the air and then eating the exposed parts. Sound familiar?  Like our lives, we can just wander around in the same ‘ole paths, looking at the same ‘ole mess and never notice what’s being eaten away at.

God hears us when we call out, but that’s the catch, isn’t it? We have to call Him…and more often than a 911 call in emergencies.  Goodness knows, in this world we call, text and skpye with the whole planet! I, the non-theologian person, have a thought here. I think the key is in our distracted, messy, busy, work/play-aholic attitude we’ve lost the desire for the stillness...real, Holy Stillness.

Please don’t get me wrong…we seek Him, but so many of the times, He’s just in the midst of the list of things to do. 

Our world revolves around the immediate need, but our God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow ~ no matter our time Zone, He is in our “immediate”! Our Labyrinth time is what pushes the world back and brings Glory into the moment!

I was soooo thankful for the reminder this morning of more labyrinth time and as I was walking back out of the labyrinth, I began picking up some of the bamboo sticks and this was the last of the Scripture I read….

So You are great, O Eternal Lord. No one else like You exists, and there is no god greater than You, as we should know from everything we have heard.

II Samuel 7:22 ~ The Voice Version

“As we should know…” Wow! I had to laugh! Maybe a little more "labyrinth time" and stillness and I could know and hear more….and again, I was thankful and began to leave. As I walked to the edge of the fence and lifted my right hand toward the fence, this is what the bamboo looked like in my hand.

Really! I didn’t stage this. For some, this might not seem like a big deal, but to me….even the sticks, the stuff in our hands can be made to speak of Jesus! We don’t have to put our own efforts to it, time with our Lord invites Him into our “immediate”.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us—
    yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 90:17 ~ NIV