Five Minute Friday: Broken

My first thought when I read today's word was the power outages across my city. We had a 20-minute storm with winds as fast as 76 miles an hour that tore trees up from their roots and left 100,000 people without power. I didn't have power for 40 hours. In July. In Oklahoma.

It wasn't so much the heat in my house though, it was the silence. The minute I walk into my house, I turn my TV on to one of the music channels. But with no power, there was no music. I spend my evenings watching TV and without power, I went to bed at 9pm. The silence made me uneasy. It was so spooky for some reason. Then as the sun set, the darkness was amazing. The street light on the corner that lights up my living room wasn't even working. When I walked in my door after work yesterday, I was so glad to see the clock in my living room flashing 12:00. But then I realized that everything that connected me to the outside world still wasn't working - no telephone, no internet, no cable. That uneasy feeling came back and I found myself at a loss as to how to spend my evening.

I am a little ashamed to admit that I ignored the feeling to spend my silent evenings in prayer. It would have been the perfect time for quiet contemplation. I could have read my Bible by candle light. But I filled my first evening reading my Kindle and the second watching a DVD.

I wish so often that I'd hear the word of God, guiding me to the right decisions. But I was so afraid of the silence that I missed my perfect chance to spend time with Him. Does that make me a broken Christian? I sure hope not.

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