Had an interesting evening the other night. We started our bible study on Jonah and I thought it would be out of the ordinary if we did something different as an ice breaker. Since not everyone knew each other, I thought it would be fascinating to try an experiment that would take us out of our comfort zones. There were 8 of us. I had 4 people sit in straight back chairs and 4 people stand behind them. As one in the group was reading something, I had those standing behind massage the shoulders and necks of those seated. This was definitely out of the comfort zone for some, for others, they totally enjoyed it. Halfway through the reading, we switched. The point of this exercise was to put into practice the idea that we have been called to serve one another. Jesus did it by washing His disciples’ feet. Can you imagine if I had started there? I’m actually having a pretty good laugh imagining it as I type this.
The story of Jonah, is the story of a prophet of God who has been asked to go somewhere he doesn’t want to go, in fact, he runs in the opposite direction rather than heed the calling of God. Thing is, God wants him to do His will, not Jonah’s and God goes to great lengths to make things unbearable for Jonah until he succumbs to the will of God. Have you ever wondered if you are doing your will or God’s? All I can tell you is that if God wants it done, He’ll get it done and if He wants you to be the one doing it, you’ll be doing it, no matter how far you run or where you try to hide!
It is remarkable to me to witness the hang-ups we have learned over time. I am amazed at the rigidity that has overtaken us. One friend has described me as being “wide open” and I really need a clarification on that as I’m not quite sure what she means. She might be suggesting I need to lose weight, she might be suggesting that I’m a goofball and both of these things wouldn’t be far from the truth. But from a kinder, gentler standpoint, she might be referring to the fact that I speak my mind (hopefully from a loving viewpoint) about issues most people repress. I will say, I’ve learned to speak up and made the decision to live out loud, not because I think I’m all that, but instead because I know I’m not and want others to feel they too are worthy even if they aren’t “perfect!”
Do you see the rockers on my blog? I took that picture of my deck last year. I can’t wait for it to get warm enough so that I can spend my mornings out there with a cup of coffee and my evenings with a glass of wine (or beer). My husband bought us new surround sound speakers and you can be assured that in the evenings I will have some soul stirring piano solos soothing my jangled nerves. Not in the mornings though, I just want to hear the birds chirping as the sun rises welcoming me to a new day.
So, you can see I love mornings and love my evenings, but what about my mid-days? To me, it is kind of like faith, those in-between moments while you are waiting to hear from God.
I shared in our study, an episode whereby I truly felt as though God and I were having a dialogue. Unlike a monologue where one reads God’s word and then prays a litany of their wishes, hoping that God lines up behind them to have them occur. No, this dialogue was one where there was a two-way conversation going on and I was being asked if I wanted to do something and I didn’t feel up to the task, because part of the requirement was to be able to let go of someone I loved dearly when it was time. One of my biggest challenges in life is saying goodbye, so I didn’t think I’d be able to do that, so I said no…..to God! Hey, I felt like He was “asking” me. The thing was, in the blink of an eye, I felt this overwhelming sense of peace about doing as I was being asked, and changed my mind from no to yes. It went on to being one of the most beautiful experiences in my life. It also gave me a feeling of complete trust about anything I would be asked to do in the future. Which brings me to my point about mid-days….faith is what happens in between the times you hear from God.
I had to develop and am still developing this skill and I find myself frustrated at times because I want so much to hear from Him and there are times when I can go days or even longer without doing so! Those days are the days when I’m supposed to be learning something and unfortunately those days are the days I’m learning just how much I still need to learn! I’m not very patient, I’ve totally bought into the instant gratification that has become the norm for our society! And then just this morning I read, that more often than not, the reason I stop hearing Him isn’t because He’s stopped talking, but instead, I’ve stopped listening! Are you teachable? That’s the question on whether or not you are hearing God, because, until you stop whatever “sin” you are committing, He can’t move you past it. I also just read the reason why Jesus was so interested in children, can you handle this? It is because they learn quickly, mainly because they don’t have their minds already made up which keeps them from being open to something new and then doing it! Are you more like a child in your faith, or the Pharisees, loaded with false perceptions and man-made rule?
God doesn’t need know-it-alls, He’s looking for people who are willing to learn! Our resumes mean very little to Him, there’s no previous experience required, He’s willing to train us. We are not valued because we’ve been productive, we are valued just because we are His! Derwin Gray, a former football player, now minister has a catchy phrase, and I’m going to borrow it here…..it goes - “Marinate on that!
Looking up!~Barb
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