Russell A. Cardwell Online

There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known by Jesus Christ.
—Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

• God Abhors a Vacuum
• Delight Yourself
• Only Amid the Storms

God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.”
—Gen 12:1

I know it sounds crazy, but I’m convinced it was the voice of God. It’s the only time I’ve heard God speak in an audible voice.

For many months I had been praying for some clear direction, and God’s silence was getting on my nerves. I had gotten quite adamant one morning and insisted on an answer. “Tell me what you want me to do with my life!” I demanded. “Please.” The response, as ever, was silence.

Days later, while I was working, a voice behind me spoke. “It’s not your life,” it said. “You will know what to do.” There was no one else in the building, and it so clearly responded to my prayer. It made no sense to interpret it as anything but the voice of God. I had absolutely no idea what it meant, but at least it was an answer.

I know God has plans for me, but no matter how much I argue with him, he refuses to let me in on the details. Sometimes he lights the path ahead one step at a time. Other times, he simply opens a door and shoves me through, and I can only keep moving forward until he opens another door, or I reach the wall and have to wait. Often it feels like God has left me to wander in the dark. But in truth, even his silences are purposeful. He uses them to develop our trust and obedience. When I simply trust him and remain obedient, even though the path ahead is dark, I always find that he has invisibly guided me to a destination far better than I expected. Sometimes it has felt like Dorothy awakening in Oz.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
—Heb 11:8

God did not give Abraham a road map or an itinerary. He simply told him to go, and promised to tell him when to stop. I think this is how God’s call always works. He gives us no more than we need to know and says, “Go.” In the words of the song, what he asks of us is that we simply “trust and obey.”

Many more months have passed since God spoke to me, and I don’t pretend to know much more about what his words meant. But I have seen enough to know that the journey is worth the effort, that each stop along the way surpasses expectations, and that at our journey’s end, we will gasp in awe at where he has led us. For as Paul put it,

No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him.
—1 Corinthians 2:9

• Only Amid the Storms
• The Arms of God
• America Ceases to be Good
• Theme of the Year
• God’s Law Written in our Hearts — Scientists Say

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

—Helen Keller

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Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

—Colossians 3:17

The air surrounds us all the time; we couldn’t live without it. But we don’t ordinarily notice its presence. Only when a fresh breeze caresses our skin or a hurricane uproots a mighty oak do we become aware of it.

So it is with God. As Paul told the Athenians, “In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) He makes his presence known to us at various times, but that doesn’t mean we notice him all the time.

Awareness of God’s presence is a skill that requires practice to develop. The first step, according to Brother Lawrence is not so much a change in what we do, but in our attitude about what we do. We do not need to be in church to worship him, he said. We can make our heart a chapel by carrying out our ordinary activities as acts of devotion and love for God. Paul said, “Do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31) If there are activities in our lives that we cannot do for the glory of God, we need to cease doing them. Brother Lawrence described this as eliminating “whatever does not lead to God.”

“Pray without ceasing,” Paul said. (1 Thes 5:17) This is the next step. Brother Lawrence recommended offering brief prayers often during the day, instead of wordy prayers that “encourage wandering thoughts.” I know that in a short time my ADHD brain starts replaying conversations from last week or itemizing to-do’s for next week. It’s heartening to know Brother Lawrence and his readers struggled with the same problem over 300 years ago. Rick Warren suggests short breath prayers—brief phrases or sentences that we can say throughout the day, no matter what we’re doing. Some of my favorites are, “Thy will, not mine, be done,” “I am yours,” or “It’s all about you.” This does not substitute for regular times of prayer, study, and worship. But we should not think of these times as being different from any other. Instead, we should try to draw near to God in our daily activities, just as in our quiet time. This is a way to “take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” (Romans 12:1)

Third, we are not chasing a feeling or experience of God’s presence. Sometimes his presence is palpable; sometimes not. God sometimes presents us with vivid demonstrations of his presence. Sometimes we are caught up in ecstasy, consumed in worship, or steeped in an exquisite infusion of profound peace. Other times we don’t have any sense of his presence. This is natural—chasing after sensational experiences is not what awareness of God’s presence is about. C. S. Lewis calls these experiences signposts. They are not the goal; they simply point the way to it. They are more significant early in our relationship with God. As Lewis described it, if we are lost in a wilderness and come upon a signpost after long wandering, it is much different than if we are traveling the King’s highway and have been passing signposts at regular intervals. We should be grateful for them, but should not stop to admire them, but rather “press on toward the goal.” (Phil 3:14) Awareness of God’s presence is not a sensation, but a way of living in relationship with him.

A great and strong wind tore into the mountains, . . . but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

—1 Kings 19:11-12

Only when he heard the still, small voice did Elijah step forth to speak with God.

We do not have to stand outside during a hurricane to be aware of the air. All we need do is breathe. And so with God. He is with us in good times and bad, in triumphs and in trials, in mourning and in dancing. When we go out weeping, and when we return in joy, he is with us. Through the high points, the low points, and all those ordinary, everyday points in between, he is there.

In fact, Jesus was called Emmanuel—”God with us.” (Matt 1:23) He is always present; whether we are aware of him depends on us.

And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

—Matt 28:20

• November 20, 2005
• If You Can’t Worship While You’re Doing It . . .
• November 14, 2005
• Holy Ground
• My Soul Waits for the Lord

Here’s a report on some scientific research into the benefits of gratitude:

Gratitude Theory: Researchers find the virtues of gratitude include good health.

And a blog that references the article:

more on gratitude ~ “Gratitude Theory”

Here’s another article on the psychological benefits of practicing gratitude:

Cultivating Gratitude: An Interview with Robert Emmons, Ph.D.

In 2005, about a month after the hurricane, I did some exercises from ReflectiveHappiness.com, which focused on recording and describing a list of blessings experienced each day. I can verify that doing this on a daily basis for several weeks brought me quickly back from a very dark depression. The immediate aftermath of the storm had been a period of intense activity, excitement, and camaraderie with fellow early-responders. But after a month, the glamor wore off and the sense of adventure paled. Driving around this devastated community, I was pummeled by an awareness that things would never be back to the way they were, and the life I knew would never be the same. I grieved intensely for what was already lost, and for what in my prescience I could foretell would soon be gone. There had been much to lose, after all. Little of it was material—not the important parts, anyway. I saw it slipping away.

Anyway, it was a very depressing time for me. Developing the practice of “counting my blessings” every day quickly alleviated the dark mood and enabled me to carry on with renewed strength. i have continued the practice off and on since then. And in October, 2006, I started keeping a book to record miracles and special blessings whenever they occur.

Gratitude works!

John Henry Jowett, the English pastor who served for many years at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, said, “Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.” Researchers are now beginning to discover scientifically a truth that religious leaders have taught for millennia.

And gratitude is the beginning of discipleship. In Romans 12:1, Paul says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” Gratitude is the end of religion and empty ritual, and the start of a genuine relationship with God. In gratitude for all that God has done for us, to give ourselves wholly and without reservation to him, is true worship. Only then we can begin to experience the benefits of the indwelling Spirit of God:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

—Galatians 5:22-23

Gratitude is the key that unbars the gates to God’s favor, and releases the flood of blessings that God has in store for those who love him. Gratitude births joy and wholehearted love for God, the qualities that made David a man after God’s own heart. Gratitude enables us to live the kind of life God blesses.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

—Colossians 3:12-17

Henri Nouen (whose birthday is today) said: “God is always active in our lives. God always calls, always asks us to take up our crosses and follow. But do we see, feel, and recognize that call or do we keep waiting for that illusory moment when it will really happen?”

What are you waiting for?

• God’s Word and God’s Works
• Satan’s Garage Sale
• Trust and Obey
• Ask, Knock
• What Ships are Built For

Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.

     —Philip Yancey

• Faith is . . .
• Dream and Work
• The Greatest of These
• All the Little That I Know
• Rules for Christian Living