Are We Listening?

I must admit that many times I wonder why God doesn’t “speak” to me. I don’t mean in the heavens parting, booming voice, fire and brimstone sort of way… that would probably make me run and hide somewhere. Then again, I don’t know if I could deal with this either:

A fascinating film made in 1950, The Next Voice You Hear, tells a story of a family with a typical amount of trials and tensions. Then, one night, the voice of God speaks on the radio. But not just their radio—God’s voice is heard throughout the world on every radio, saying the same thing at the same time. At first people react with disbelief, then fear. After several days of hearing “The Voice,” however, people’s attitudes, actions, and priorities begin to change. The impact of what God is saying directly affects how they live their lives.

I have heard people say, “If only God would talk to me! If He would just tell me what to do, I would do it.” The simple fact is that God has already spoken to us through His Word, the Bible. Do we listen to Him as He speaks? The psalmist desired to obey God’s Word “continually, forever and ever” (119:44). And James warned about ignoring it when he said, “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

How would you respond if God began to speak to you on your radio? We can be thankful that God does speak to us—not on the radio but in the Scriptures. May we be wise enough to listen and obey.

Can We Really Hear From God?

What’s the longest amount of time you have ever prayed? Would you be able to pray two hours each day for an entire week? I think for some of us, the amount of time we pray is inversely proportional to how hungry we are when we say grace.

I used to pray in the car on the way to work and on the way home from work, but at some point, someone discouraged me from doing that, saying that I needed a “quiet time” with God. I noticed since then that my prayer time has dropped off, and I want to develop the habit of praying in the car again to get that back.

How easy is it to find a quiet time at home when you have to fit in time with your spouse, time with your children, time with your family, time with your friends, time serving the Lord, time working at your job, time working on your house, and leisure time all in one week, or for some, all in one day? I propose that it is almost impossible for us to do this on our own. I can’t imagine even finding a location for this quiet time to occur, unless you live in a secluded rural area.

It takes just 10 seconds for a simple heartfelt prayer: “God, help me to make the time to spend with you. Clear away what is not useful to you so that I can become more useful to you.” If we could all pray such a simple prayer with conviction, we might all be able to become more deeper spiritually and draw closer to Him. Then, and only then, may we be able to hear His voice and hear what He is saying to us.

Building Bridges

Whenever I’ve started a job, I’ve generally had a “buddy” come alongside me to show me the ropes. Your buddy will generally introduce you to the people with whom you will be working, the people to whom you will report, and other people in your department whom you may need to ask for help. Buddies generally show you where everything important is located, such as the copy room, the break room, and the rest room. When I’ve worked in secured environments and my badge security wasn’t set up yet, I depended on my buddy to help me get from building to building. There were times where I couldn’t get into the the building where I worked or even to the cafeteria without my buddy.

The same thing should happen when you start in a fresh church setting. At a church that my wife’s family in Chicago attends, they have their own coffeehouse, and when you fill out a card that states you’re a visitor, they ask you to take it there to get a free cup of coffee–this isn’t some gas station cappuccino either, those people are running a mini-Starbucks in there.

My church has a specific hospitality ministry that has greeters at the front doors to make guests feel welcome, direct them to childcare (if necessary), and invite them for a cup of coffee in the parlor. Our coffee is much more low-tech than the mini-Starbucks, but still, the point is to make guests feel welcome.

Now, I’ve never personally witnessed an example such as the one in this story, but it is important to note the “fish out of water” context.

A new believer recently attended our worship service. He had long, multicolored, spiked hair. He dressed in dark clothes and had multiple piercings and tattoos. Some gaped; others just gave him that “It’s good to see you in church, but please don’t sit next to me” smile.

God’s Strong Hands

Can you forgive yourself? It seems that we are all dragging around burdens of old guilts, past failures, and broken relationships. Then, we drag that weight into new experiences and new relationships so we can sabotage those as well.

It is a comfort that God is strong enough to see past all of our faults and failures to see us for the people that He created us to be. In other religions, a “god” is a punisher, a taskmaster, or an overlord waiting for us to make a mistake so he can destroy us. Other people might believe that “god” created us all, but doesn’t care about us, doesn’t want to know us, and doesn’t want us to even bother him.

How comforting then is this quote: “Only in the gospel can men go on loving themselves.”

Noted preacher Carlyle Marney said that because God doesn’t give up on us, we should not give up on ourselves. “The last person on earth you will forgive a weakness is yourself,” Dr. Marney wrote. “Only in the gospel can men go on loving themselves. Wait on God! See what His strong hands will fashion out of your defection.”

When we have turned back, God can turn us around. When we have destroyed, God can rebuild. “Christ in the strong hands of God conquering my defection. This is the gospel.”

Disappointing Sideshows

I went to the State Fair with my family over the weekend, and I have to say that I wasn’t as enthusiastic about going as I have been in years past.

The weather was great… can’t complain about that. My oldest daughter got to ride her first rides on the midway… that was certainly a big moment.

But, for all the fun food, the music, the flashing lights, the demonstrations, the animals, the tractors pulling train cars, and the ambiance, I just wasn’t as enthusiastic about it this year.

In the same way, it was all those things that captivated my kids and made them excited about going back to the fair again. They look forward to it because those things are really built around attracting kids.

Maybe the reason why it wasn’t so exciting to me was the $80 price tag. After parking, tickets, food, beverages, and ride tickets, it all seemed to be a waste of money.

I’m not trying to tell you that the State Fair is bad, but I guess that I could be arguing for spending in moderation.

Surprise Me!

I have to confess that although I know that God loves me very much and will not allow more harm to come to me than I can handle, I get very frightened sometimes of surrendering completely to Him. I know there are people with so much more faith than I who are dealing with a host of issues that I know I couldn’t deal with myself. This is an area where I know I need work.

The unknown scares me, but what I need to remember is that the unknown is not as unknown as I think. I have a known God and a known destination after all this is through. Surrendering yourself to God has to be easier when you acknowledge that.

Whose Side Are You On?

My wife loves to watch the entertainment shows every night. Extra and Entertainment Tonight are her faves. To me, you only need to watch one of the two, because they pretty much all repeat the same “news”. Who got out of a car without their underwear last night? Who screamed and cursed at the paparazzi last night after leaving dinner? Who is having a “plastic surgery nightmare”? Who is in or out of drug rehab? The only things I get out of those shows are the sneak peek movie trailers, but you can generally find those on the internet now.

Anyway, I finally had to put my foot down the other day and tell my wife that I didn’t want her watching those shows around the kids anymore. I felt that I had heard enough questionable language and content aired there that I didn’t want my oldest hearing it and picking it up. I’m starting to feel the same way about the evening news, with the many objectionable acts we hear about on a daily basis.

Whose side are you on? Do you take a stand for what you feel is right? Or, in an attempt to be liked by others or nonconfrontational do you just go along with the flow and don’t rock the boat.

Just remember, if you’re a friend of the world, you could be an enemy of God.

Reframing the Picture

This may sound cliche, but you never truly know what’s going on until you take a look at the “big picture”.

I’ve sort of alluded to this over the summer, but I taught my last class at the end of May. I was supposed to teach a class in June that I had to withdraw from, and a class I was hoping to teach this month never materialized. Other classes I tried to sign up for were already full. I felt like I was in a bind because my summer schedule was bare. I started to wonder if maybe God was drawing me away from teaching for some reason. It upset me, because I really love to teach, and I have greatly enjoyed the past year with Indiana Wesleyan. I just could not see what God was trying to show me.

Was I being punished? Was there something I was supposed to learn? What was I supposed to be doing with my time instead? Was teaching not my gift?

This week, I finally was able to schedule some classes for October, which made me feel a bit better. It wasn’t until going through the last couple of weeks with my wife and her courseload that I finally saw the “big picture”. She is in her final course in the Bachelor’s program, plus trying to finish electives and classes she missed while she was having our youngest daughter. She has to cram two on-site and two on-line courses into the next three months, plus raise two toddlers at home and try to get her homework in between nap times. Fortunately, I have been able to help a little bit by allowing her some peace and quiet watching the kids.

Suddenly, though, I realized what God’s plan was all along. By keeping that work away from me during the time that my wife needed me the most, He prevented me from being out of the house a night or two a week plus the extra night she is gone. He allowed me to be available to help out my wife instead of concerned about classes and grading and preparation. In other words, God knew what was coming along in the next 78 days, and He set aside my work in the meantime in order for His work to be accomplished.

Stuck With a Thorn?

I had a terrible problem with my back a couple of months ago. I have no idea what happened, but it was completely thrown out for some reason. The last time I went to the doctor for it, he said he could prescribe some pain medication for me, but it was likely caused by my body not being used to lifting children on a regular basis. This time, it required narcotics just to be able to get out of bed and stand up without crying out in agony.

Praise God that I am not generally dealing with serious health issues such as these, but a thorn in the flesh can really help you focus on God. In fact, as difficult as it was for me to do so, I was able to thank God for the pain, as it helped me focus on His strength to deal with the issue and kept me from sinning. That was a huge growth opportunity that God provided for me, and it is all due to Him that I was able to do such a thing. It is very tempting in such a time to doubt God and wonder why you are being punished. It is only through Him and His glory that we are able to turn our problems and our thorns into something useful and beautiful.

The Greatest Gift

One of the best talents you can develop is good listening skills. By learning to listen attentively, you can reduce the probability of miscommunication and misunderstandings.

There is also the quality of simply listening before speaking. I think silence frustrates most people. We have an inherent need as people to say the right thing that will fix the situation, and sometimes that does nothing but feed our pride and our ego. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent.