5th Day on Patmos

We went to see the Cave of the Apocalypse today which, as legend has it, is where John received and wrote down the Lord’s revelation. It was interesting to see it, but somehow there was an element of lore about it. Did John really stay there? We don’t know. Is this truly the cave he received the revelation in? We don’t know. As we were visiting the cave a guardian told us a bit about the history of it. He told us about where John slept, where he would put his hand to rise up from bed (ehem you know that how exactly?), where his scribe wrote (another tradition, we don’t know if John wrote or somebody else acted as a scribe for him), the guide told us where the Lord’s voice came from, apparently it came out of the rock etc. They left nothing out, they explained every little detail and I couldn’t help but sit there in the damp darkness and go “How do you know all this? Where you there? Did you ever meet John and ask him? Did YOU get a revelation about what happened there?” The whole cave experience was just about speculation to me. I don’t know, I’ve been really excited all week about going to see it and now that I’ve seen it I’m walking away disappointed. The reverence for the place that I had is totally gone - they’ve explained it all away somehow, with false knowledge. Plus they’ve changed the cave into a small church taking the cave aspect of it all away. Anyway it’s a nice memory, and it’s neat to be able to say, “Yes I’ve been there”, but that’s about it. The real mystery, the most interesting part and the most exciting, is not the cave, but the result - what John wrote. The guide was focusing on what John did in the cave and all the things that happened there but he totally missed the most important part - the book of Revelation itself. People, let’s not ask about the meaningless where’s and how’s but lets get back to the basics, lets get back to the Scriptures.
What I’ve been thinking about all week, and what the Lord has been convicting me about was just reinforced today; we need to stop in the busyness of life and just stop - we need to come before the Lord and be still. I love the Scripture verse in Psalms 46:10 that states “Be still, and know that I am God.” I don’t remember the last time I was still before the Lord and just knew that He is God. Just sit there in the silence, in the stillness and know Him. Come to think of it, the last time I stopped was last summer in France when I was on vacation - that’s 7 months ago! I haven’t been still before the Lord in 7 months! It just reinforces the notion that I am the Church of Ephesus I am a doer but not a listener that has lost his first love. I focus on what I can do instead of whom I’m doing it for. I need to learn to stop. I took a 10 min walk tonight on my own to pray and gaze up into the starry hosts, and just those 10 min were the most rejuvenating time I have had in a very long time. He longs to fill us up with His peace and serenity if we would just let Him.

Oh God this is my prayer for tonight, help me to be still every once in a while. Give me wisdom to say no to the things You don’t want me to do and instead go away, tuck up somewhere and be still before You. For You are holy and worthy of our time. You long to be with us but we don’t give you of our ourselves. Lord I am so sorry. Please Lord, remind me, knock on the door of my heart and let me know when I need to stop and just kneel before You, my King, in Your presence. I love you Lord and thank You for everything You do for us, Amen.