Daily Reflection 16th July

Angela Saunders writes:

Recently I was reading about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and was struck by the words, ‘The man and his wife heard the sound of God walking in the garden’ (Genesis 3:8). I have always imagined that God was barefoot, walking on lush green grass in His beautiful garden. I had not given much thought before to how hard it is to hear someone walking barefoot on grass. 
 
There are times when we strain to listen for sounds; the sound of a child stirring in the night, the sound of a key in the door, the ring of the door or the telephone as we wait for an anticipated visitor or call. At these times, our hearing cuts through the everyday noise of the household, traffic, seagulls, sheep, clock chimes (!) or whatever your setting is; they are still there but at that moment they are not important.
 
Listening for the footsteps of God as He walks, not through the Garden of Eden, but alongside us in our own lives involves some of the straining to listen; we long to hear His footsteps and know that He is with us. The straining to listen, as in the above cases, does not bring the anticipated person any nearer to us, we cannot make it happen, but it shows us our desire to be open in listening.  As we let the other sounds recede into the background, not just the external sounds of life but the internal chatter of our minds, our worries and our fears, we find a quieter place. In this quiet place of gentle listening, we become more aware of our own living and being, more aware of what is really there, more aware of the footsteps of God right beside us.
 
We have all had different experiences of Lockdown; some people have had more time to be quiet and reflective; some people have been very busy, helping others, working from home, home schooling, etc. and God walks with us in all of this. We have been encouraged to reflect on what we have learned through Lockdown, what will help us grow and be strong in the future, let us keep listening for the footsteps of God whatever the future holds for us.