I was sitting on the deck yesterday, enjoying beautiful weather and blue sky, having quiet time with God. I was trying the practice of just sitting, being still, and simply paying attention to God’s presence and what He might have to say to me. No prayer list or agenda. Just still and attentive.

Before long, I was annoyed by a military tanker plane that flew overhead. The Pittsburgh airport also houses the 171st Air Refueling Wing, so it’s not unusual to see and hear giant planes flying by several times as the pilots practice. Typically, I’m fascinated by those planes. But that afternoon, I was seeking quiet, stillness. It was bad enough I heard chainsaws, road traffic, people talking as they walked up the sidewalk. That plane was loud and seriously disruptive.

On its second or third pass, I looked up to the sky in irritation and stared at the plane until it was out of view. The tanker plane is massive. Giant engines propel it through the air. The power it must take to get that plane and its fuel cargo into the air and keep it there… The power… Power… Power…

As I sat with that word bouncing around in my head, I felt God whisper to me, “You’ve been trying to do so much by your own power. Why not call on mine?”

I looked again at the sky and the nature on display in my yard and the neighbors’. The bright sun warming the earth. The wind blowing clouds across the heavens. Buds giving way to leaves. Birds flitting from tree to tree. Lush new grass covering the ground. A bee buzzing past my view. All of these were created by the Lord. In His power, He cares for them all.

God created me, too. And He cares for me dearly. He knows my struggles. In His power, he will carry me through them (if I let Him).

Turns out my “quiet time” with God wasn’t so quiet. But because I was open and attentive, He met me there anyway. And He spoke to my heart—even through what I initially thought was a distraction.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:28-31