ListenDaily – 18 May 2010: Left or right?
So, which way do you turn, left or right?
I am not talking about political leanings or traffic decisions, I'm talking about boarding an airplane of course.
Of course.
I have had more than one person respond that the 'listening' part of the 1-2-3 program is very difficult, and I agree, and, there are may reasons for that, one being control. I meet an awful lot of people who say they have 'control issues', or 'have to be in control all the time' because they are 'control freaks'. I can kind of get that, there's some "me too" in this area also, but on the other side -- hogwash.
No one is in control all of the time. Control is a facade. You're in control of your car until someone runs a stop sign.
You're in control of your kids' lives until someone at school hurts them.
You're in control of your life until the doctor says "It's cancer."
But it's not just about losing control either. We all voluntarily give up control on a regular basis.
Back to boarding an airplane -- left or right?
When you get on an airplane do you turn left toward the cockpit, or right toward the passenger seating? Do you demand control, or do you give it over to the one who knows how to fly? Do you even want to be in control of a situation for which you are not prepared, or do you prefer to turn that particular thing over to the expert? The same type of choices hit us everyday (who cooks your meals, who drives your kids to school, etc.) .
"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." (James 4:13-17)
So, left or right? Insist on control or turn it over to the One who knows how to fly?
Understanding that we are not really in control might just increase your desire, and ability, to hear Him.
Questions:
1. Is control an issue for you?
2. In any specific areas of your life?
3. Might that affect your ability to hear God?
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May we persevere. Jim.
INTERESTING THOUGHTS:
"All the troubles of life come upon us because we refuse to sit quietly for a while each day in our rooms."
Blaise Pascal
THE 1-2-3 CHALLENGE:
Starting today, and then first thing tomorrow morning, I challenge you to listen to God, with this five minute exercise:
1) Do this as soon as you wake up. Set your clock a few minutes early if that is what you need to get up ahead of the household noise. Lay your Bible by your bed as a reminder.
2) Go to the quietest place in your house, outside, your kitchen, your bathroom...wherever.
3) Pray for 1 minute that God would speak to you. Audibly, out loud, ask Him to remove Satan from your presence for this time. Ask Him to remove distractions and mental clutter. During this time, do not ask Him for anything else, do not thank Him for anything else, do not pray for anyone else (but please find another prayer time for all these things).
4) Open your Bible and read for 2 minutes. This is God talking to you through His Word. Listen to Him.
5) Close your Bible and be silent for 3 minutes. Listen for Him. He may come as a thought, a nudge, an idea. For a while, He may seem hard to hear. There is so much clutter in our minds! Keep listening.
This may seem difficult. You will hear every creaking tree branch. You will hear every barking dog. But like Elijah's time in the cave, God is not in the tree branch, God is not in the dog. Persevere. Listen for the gentle whisper
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