Children are such marvelous gifts from God. When we look at and study them carefully, we can glean profound truths and insights about ourselves. One thing I’ve noticed about the three year old my wife cares for is the fact that each time she is asked a question, or given a direct instruction, her immediate reply is “huh?” This response requires Cozette to repeat herself. Well, after noticing the pattern, and the fact that compliance was contingent upon having to repeat herself, Cozette brought to the child’s attention the need to listen. Children are focused on getting their needs, desires, wants and issues tended to. If their focus is their agenda, they seldom hear anything else the first time. Also, the non-responsive “huh?” gives them a little more time to think, especially in areas where they’ve been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, so to speak.
Does the fact that I listen to God in one area mean that He has my complete attention in every area? No. Is my love for God measured by my receptivity and responsiveness to His Voice? Yes. Is my agenda screaming so loudly in my ears until I can’t hear God? Often. When He speaks, how many times have I said, “huh?” Many more than I count. And yet God, like a patient caregiver, does not count it against me – He just keeps on loving me. John the Disciple was so blown away by this love until he wrote, and I paraphrase, “What kind of love is this that God has poured upon us, that we should even be considered, much less called, the sons of God?"
My personal goal is to walk so close to Jesus Christ until I am attuned to His Voice. I call it The Ministry of Hearing. What keeps me from hearing Him is the roar of my personal agenda, life stuff that’s under His control anyway. When I get caught up in the entanglement of life stuff, I forget that I have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. This is where the roar of my agenda drowns out the still, small voice of God’s Holy Spirit. I shudder to think of the number of times I have failed Him in this area - too many to count, but not enough to leave me helpless or hopeless. And so this becomes my goal, the mastery of the ministry of hearing God, in every trial, test, storm or tempest. The ability to know that He is there to calm the winds of my life with just one word, “Peace.” And as well, to know that He is there to still the crashing waves of the water of my dilemmas with two words, “Be still.”
Peace. Be Still. Know that I am God, whether you hear me or not. My consistency is not determined by your attention span. My love is not triggered by the fact that you heed my call. My Love is a choice that was made once, and is unchangeable forever.
Does the fact that I listen to God in one area mean that He has my complete attention in every area? No. Is my love for God measured by my receptivity and responsiveness to His Voice? Yes. Is my agenda screaming so loudly in my ears until I can’t hear God? Often. When He speaks, how many times have I said, “huh?” Many more than I count. And yet God, like a patient caregiver, does not count it against me – He just keeps on loving me. John the Disciple was so blown away by this love until he wrote, and I paraphrase, “What kind of love is this that God has poured upon us, that we should even be considered, much less called, the sons of God?"
My personal goal is to walk so close to Jesus Christ until I am attuned to His Voice. I call it The Ministry of Hearing. What keeps me from hearing Him is the roar of my personal agenda, life stuff that’s under His control anyway. When I get caught up in the entanglement of life stuff, I forget that I have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. This is where the roar of my agenda drowns out the still, small voice of God’s Holy Spirit. I shudder to think of the number of times I have failed Him in this area - too many to count, but not enough to leave me helpless or hopeless. And so this becomes my goal, the mastery of the ministry of hearing God, in every trial, test, storm or tempest. The ability to know that He is there to calm the winds of my life with just one word, “Peace.” And as well, to know that He is there to still the crashing waves of the water of my dilemmas with two words, “Be still.”
Peace. Be Still. Know that I am God, whether you hear me or not. My consistency is not determined by your attention span. My love is not triggered by the fact that you heed my call. My Love is a choice that was made once, and is unchangeable forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment