Just Listen to
God; In His Word
When my son was small he made up a song from the scripture that
said; listen to God. I try to remember it when things in life try to pull me
down in to frustration and despair. God wants me to set my mind on things
above; not on messes below. Who knew that I child’s made up song could
influence an attitude 23 years later!
Some days we wake up to find things not as they were when we went
to sleep. Perhaps it is a pile of dishes in the sink, or maybe someone left
something out on the counter and the ants came marching. Sometimes you could
even find that people came in the door dropped their things and just left them
where they fell after school on Friday and Saturday morning you arise thinking
all will be great for an enjoyable day; but no. There is always something to
do.
Maybe you left work with nothing on your desk, there were no ‘to
be done yesterday’ files on your pile and you imagined Monday morning would be
a breeze today; but no. You find a stack of items to be dealt with right away
as soon as you put your brief case down you just want to go back home? Someone
else decided that you had to do more work Monday than you had planned and
things are already getting to you.
Paul tells us not to give up. You can get through that pile of
work, either at home or at the office today. He and I want you to know there is
hope that things will get done and you will get home to your peaceful happy
place and enjoy time alone or with your family. This too shall pass!
Do not give up and do not give in to complaining and arguing when
you get upset by other people’s actions. Do not allow others behaviors to pull
you into the mud!
In an old western, in fact it seems like back in the 70’s there
were a lot of the same type of scenes; someone would get stuck in quick sand.
The thing we learned watching them was that if you struggled you
would sink further down. Often times the person in the quick sand would throw
such a fit that a friend would try to lean over and pull them out with their
hands…you know where that went. The friend would end up in there with them. The
thing was if they remained calm in the mess and listen to the instructions; the
hero could hand them a branch or a rope to pull them gently out. They would
climb out a bit messy but alive just the same.
First let’s look at the flailing we could do in our lives; do we
sink or do we wait patiently? Personally I have a bad habit of flailing
first! I struggle to get out of the
mess, and admittedly I complain about it mostly to God, but just the same its
complaining about the mess someone else got me into. Even though that may be
the case, the fact is the quick sand will pull me in if I allow it to!
So take a new grip with
your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path
for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become
strong. Hebrews 12:12-14
Sometimes we just need to get a grip!
We need to realize that the rescue will come either by a branch or
a rope, someone will pull us out. We need to not get upset when things do not
stay the way we intended them to be. We live in a world of fallible humans. We
all make mistakes, do the wrong things at times, and even fail to think of the
mess we are leaving for others at times.
Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy
life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look
after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch
out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting
many. Make sure that
no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the
firstborn son for a single meal. You know that
afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too
late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears. Hebrews 12:14-17
We just need to work harder at the living at peace with others
part occasionally. After all we do not want to build a wall of bitterness; we
need to be able to forgive and get on with our day, or our lives. Just as God
will reward us for loving one another, He will also encourage us to live at
peace with others, and maybe we will even find a way to enjoy it!
Sometimes
we just need to accept the things we cannot change and work to change the
things we can.
When
God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another
promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also. This means
that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things
will remain. Since we are
receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by
worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.
Hebrews 12:26-29
We need to stand with Him,
knowing that the piles we have to tackle today are not just work, but they are
lessons, they are creating in us a heart that will not be shaken and we will
not be caused to stumble because He I with us. Let’s put on the worship music
today or play our digital Bible scriptures and enjoy the Word with Him. Then
when the things of earth get us all jumbled up inside with frustration we an
release that to God and let Him help us see the way to peace again.
Thank you heavenly Father for
showing us the way to peace was in your Word today. Help us to listen to Your
still small voice that seems to speak louder than the mess we have to deal;
thank you for giving us ears to hear what Your Spirit is saying to our hearts.
In Jesus name, amen.
Suggested reading Hebrews 12:1-29 , Hebrews 13:1-25, James 1:1-27,
and James 2:1-26