Kneeling Places

Wrestling with God takes on different forms. For some it looks like prayer and for others, journaling. We wrestle with God for many reasons. Sometimes it is because we are unhappy with our jobs or where we go to school. Hannah wrestled with God about her infertility in 1 Samuel 1. Verse 10 states that, "Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried - inconsolably."

What are other reasons we wrestle with God? Most of the time my wrestling occurs when I am faced with a decision. At times there are two paths before me and I don't know which one to take. One of my decision making rituals involves one of three locations.

While in college and seminary I worked at a summer camping program for girls in Florida and Georgia. Every week, hundreds of girls filled with excitement and promise visited camp. And every week, God would speak to me. Sometimes in big ways and sometimes in small ways, and without failure, God spoke.

Consequently, when I'm faced with a huge decision my first thought is to drive to one of the three locations where I worked to listen for God's voice. God always speaks to me at camp. In her poetry, Ann Weems talks about our kneeling places. Camp is my kneeling place.

Maybe you have one too, and your kneeling place is a hiking trip or a pen and a piece of paper. Regardless of location or medium, there are times when meeting God is the most important thing we can do. Let us seek out our kneeling places and not let go until we get answers - even if the answers are not the ones we wanted to hear.
S

ps This picture was taken at Lake Yale Camp in Florida. If you listen closely, you can hear God on this dock.