HSBC Coffeebreak Devotional

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:10

Apparently this is a challenge for me because God seems to bring it to my attention on a regular basis. On a recent flight home, my plane was delayed and so I had time to kill in the airport. My plan was to start reading a new book a friend gave me called Knowing God by J.I. Packer. I took a seat along a wall, not for the purpose of helping me focus, but because it gave me the best view of the people.

I love people and I love people-watching. As I looked around, I was struck by the oddity I presented with a book on my lap. Four seats down, an older man was talking on his cell phone. He was a biologist, as well as a professor. Around the corner was a mom with a teenager and two young children who were watching a movie on their computer. Another gal with dread locks was talking loudly on her phone. Then a young 20's something man invaded my space and plugged in his laptop. He sat across from me and began tapping away, while simultaneously making a cell phone call to change his flight to Venice next week. Italy? What does he do that a trip to Italy sounds so routine? Within 5 minutes there were two more college students with computers on their laps, cords running across the seating area and headphones on.

Meanwhile, I've read only a few pages. Packer writes, "Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives. If we try to live in this world without knowing about the God whose world it is and who runs it, the world becomes a strange, mad, painful place and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God." The impact of the contrast to what I was seeing and what I was reading was overwhelming. Even I sat there with a cross around my neck, a study book about knowing God on my lap, a Bible in my bag, a desire to know God more, and yet I found myself completely distracted by the people. People God created, people God loves. How many know God? Do they even realize that they are missing something? What is it they are plugged into?

Our world is so full of distractions, we now carry them with us as laptops, IPODs, cell phones and more; it is difficult to stop and ponder the things of God. We may no longer know what we are missing! Even when I think I am plugged into God, I am easily distracted. Paul writes, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him....I want to know Christ" (Phil 3:7-10).

I want to know Christ.

Written by
Lanie White