Are You Listening?
Today, Pastor Henry continued the "Unplugged" series that began a few weeks ago when the great big cell phone came walking in to remind us that with so much noise going on around us, we need to consciously unplug ourselves from all of this to listen to what God is saying. He read the story in I Samuel 2-3 when Samuel was just a boy and God spoke to him. Samuel thought it was Eli calling him, but finally, Eli helped him realize that it was in fact, God's voice.
We talked about different ways God speaks to us . . . through other people, creation, the Holy Spirit, events, or phenomena. I didn't think of it then, but now that I'm thinking about it, one of the most important ways He speaks to us is through the Bible. He uses these words, the Word, to shape our thoughts and so that is why it is important to read it often. If you study it or memorize it, the Holy Spirit can bring it to mind when you need it.
This monk named Thomas Merton said,""Silence is the first language of God; all else is a poor translation." What do you think that means?
5 Comments:
Thanks for the opportunity to muse...
okay, u didn't ask about this, but in the Eli/Sam/God scenario, i really wonder how Samuel, as a young boy, processed this. The very next day, do you think several of his thoughts included "did this really happen?" I suspect he ran to Eli and said something like, "hey buddy, I'm just wondering, did I dream this or did I really hear God last night?"
Seriously cool.
Yet, part of what I heard in the message yesterday, is that we serve that very same God. He hasn't changed. He still speaks.
I wonder if we committed to praying consistently, say for a month, or for 40 forty days, asking God to speak to us with the posture of faith that we'd trust it was Him and commit to testifying to what we hear, I wonder what stories we could post here?
Hmmmm.
I'll have to tackle that Merton quote some other visit...
Hi Gracie,
Actually, Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what God said, but Eli forced it out of him, v. 16-18.
Prayer would probably be a good place to start so you could figure out what you're listening for.
I'm pretty excited about this blog thing starting! Way to go Jewels!
Your quote from Thomas Merton made me curious about him. Would silence be a positive thing or a negative thing for him? Because so often when I think of the silence of God, I think of the Jews during the holocaust, who were angry at God (and rightly so?) for his silence during their tragedy. But I wikipedia'd Merton and found that he craved silence- he desired to be a monk. Maybe in his craving silence he was craving God in the same way the Jews craved hearing from God because they were desperate to know God still cared about them.
Hi Anonymous!
I hadn't really thought of it that way - probably b/c I love silence, too...maybe not enough to be a monk, though.
When talking about our need to listen to God with our kids, we asked our children why we need to listen to God. Our son replied, "Because if we don't listen, God will have to start over."
I wonder how many times God has had to "start over" with me. The word "lots" comes to mind. But, then I give thanks that HE is willing to start over again, and again, and again.
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