Meditation is not about self. Rather, it’s getting lost in thoughts about God. In meditation, one thought can redirect the mind. Keep directing your thoughts towards the Creator. A thought about God or how you saw Him in someone or something will turn your heart to a place of gratitude and deep appreciation.
Meditation is much like a raft ride. It spins and moves you downstream. Not so much movement that you become sick or disoriented, but enough that you see new discoveries. Enough to notice that it is out of your control. The current carries the raft along and every ride down the river is unique to that moment.
- Meditation gives opportunity to experience God.
- Meditation diminishes wandering thoughts.
- Meditation increases awareness of the activity of God.
- Meditation redirects and rewires the mind.
- Meditation aligns mind and spirit with God.
When you spend time meditating on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you are in for the ride of your life. Meditation helps to lift the mind and spirit above life’s problems to a place where someone higher and more knowledgeable is in control.
Sometimes, not often enough though, I feel swept away. Swept away from the cares of the day. Swept away in this current of love. Swept away by the only true source of living, fresh, clear, pure water. I long to be swept away if only for a moment or two. Swept away above all my days. Swept away to moments of purest joy. Swept away longing to be free once and for all from pain, struggle, disappointment, and failure. I long to be swept away if only for a moment or two.
Meditation is simple to understand but much harder to experience because it involves trust. Some are afraid to encounter evil along the trip, but I have never found that to be the case. You are contemplating God and not self.
The mind can be a menace. Your thoughts will wander often. It is natural and part of the reason meditation is so important to your inner life. It helps to train the mind.
There is one great way to know if you’ve been swept away by God’s current. Usually, you don’t get off the raft at the same place you entered. You’ll find yourself having advanced along on your spiritual journey in some way. God doesn’t normally lead us in circles like a river raft ride. I only say normally because the Israelites under Moses did more than a few circles in the desert. One thing is certain and was true for Moses: He’s there with you on the journey. Though God is consistent, He is certainly not predictable.
Be intentional to put yourself in places where you’re able to jump into the current of God. This great adventure with God doesn’t have life jackets, safety ropes, or life guards. The water will be cold and sometimes even colder. YOU WILL GET WET. There is no safe, dry way to experience God. It is more dangerous, however, to not jump at all.
The more time spent in the current, the more familiar and comfortable it will feel. The source of the current is flowing right through your inner life. Jesus said these words, “Out of a person’s inner most being will gush RIVERS of living water.”
Meditation is critical to a healthy spiritual life. You are not just skin and bones; you have a soul and you are a spiritual being. Take care of your spirit and make a habit of connecting with your Creator. Allow Him to carry you further and deeper into the currents – the mighty strong currents of His unending love.
Perhaps then you can say with your whole heart
I long to be swept away
Carried by Your Presence
Beyond full comprehension
Yet truer than true, and
Purer than pure, and
Overwhelmingly mine.