The Spiritual Fitness ManualSample

God Himself Was the Original First Responder

By Chaplain (LT COL) Mark Johnston (RET), US Army

The Psalmist asked, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” Contemplating the vastness that surrounded him he felt insignificant.  We too may be tempted to ponder the question asked on that starlit night.  The Creator of the Universe can seem so far away.  We are tempted to view ourselves as small and inconsequential.

The prophet Elijah was feeling very unappreciated and insignificant. He complained to God. God told him to go stand on a mountain because He was going to pass by him. There was a strong wind. Then came an earthquake. The shaking ground was followed by a fire. God was not in any of them. 

In my own journey it has been in the silence that I have been able to know the intimacy of God. When the storms in my life have appeared overwhelming I had to learn to quiet the conversation in my mind. It is on those occasions that I have known “the peace that surpasses all understanding.” It is then that I am able to commune intimately with the Almighty.

That peace comes not because all my questions, doubts and problems have suddenly been removed. When my soul is filled with fear and anxiety the words of Jesus strengthen me. On those occasions that I feel inconsequential, lost in the vastness of the universe or the billions of nameless faces that share this planet with me, the inner voice of God lifts me. Jesus “calls his sheep by name”--the Lord God of the Universe knows my name! I am able to have an intimate relationship with God not because I completely understand the Creator. My intimacy with God is made possible because He knows me so very well.