Have you ever thought you were paying attention and then realized you totally weren’t? I think we can make ourselves believe that we’re listening when we really aren’t. You know what I’m talking about. Maybe you were driving down the road, with your mind on other things, and then you thought to yourself, “How did I even get here?! I must have auto-piloted the last few miles because I don’t even remember taking the turn off of Main Street.” Maybe you were listening to a sermon, intent on hearing what the Lord had to tell you, and the next thing you knew, you were wondering when you were going to have time to do the laundry. Maybe you were enjoying prayer and silence, but it lasted only a moment or two before your brain filled with your day’s to-do list, and that’s what you dwelled on for the remainder of the time. Or maybe someone was talking to you and you completely zoned out… perhaps never admitted it, but just nodded your head and smiled as if you had internalized every syllable they’d uttered.
We’re all human, and I bet we can all relate to such a realization. We fully planned on listening, but got distracted or went down our own thought trail, only to realize that we had completely stopped listening at all! One thing I love about God is that He is so faithful to remind us when we’re off track, or when we’ve zoned Him out. He sends events, circumstances, and even other people to slow us down… in a good way. Sometimes, it’s an unfortunate situation, like an illness that keeps you laying low for a while, and other times, it’s merely an annoyance, like – oh, I don’t know – a super slow tractor on your way to work on a Monday morning.
Our initial response to being held up is frustration. Sometimes, even anger or blame directed toward God. “Why is this happening to me?!,” we gripe. We get hung up on the circumstance, and not what good could possibly come of it.
Children are all different and, so, the same set of parents may have to use different disciplinary and reward measures for each, because each child learns, operates, and feels love in different ways. They each have their own unique needs. We are the same way – God knows how each of us senses His love and what types of events bring us back to Him. For example, He knows that any beautiful nature scene is going to lead me to a place of awe, but that if I am stuck in a building too long, I can get sullen. He knows that some of us turn to Him most when we feel His abundant blessings, while many others of us require some hardship to turn to Him again and listen up.
I’d venture to say that most hardships are not brought on by the Lord, but rather are the result of sin entering the world. In His kingdom, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain (Revelation 21:4). Those are the types of things that sin has brought to this world, (though God can certainly bring good out of them). However, I think sometimes God does send things to make us slow down and get back on track. He sees us going down the wrong path or just wants to call our attention to where it belongs. I love that about Him! He could just let us meander along, make even more mistakes, and finally doom ourselves, but He is endlessly reaching out to get us back on the path of righteousness. Back to that narrow gate, back to Jesus, through whom we are able to enter into His kingdom (Matthew 7:13-14).
I purposely travel all backroads on my way into work every day, and I often reflect on nature and whatever sights I might see during my drive each morning. Other days, like today, I get a little ahead of myself and start thinking about what the rest of the day holds, what I need to do, and how I’m going to accomplish it all. Today was one of those days. I started out allowing myself to take in the soothing beauty of the morning and just reflect on the awesome weekend I had just enjoyed and the great weather today. But something happened along the way that took me out of that frame of mind, and I never even realized it until I got to a point in my commute where a tractor was in front of me. I didn’t want to come off like a jerk by tailing him close, so I stayed back and reluctantly drove slow. It allowed me to really take in the scenery around me, even after the tractor turned off the road and out of my way. I was able to appreciate the rows of corn and how tall and green they have become, especially in this past week after some rain. The clouds were a pretty layer of white along the horizon, with a beautiful, open blue sky overhead. Why had I not noticed those things before the tractor held me up?!
It’s because I had stopped listening somewhere along the way. I had stopped looking around and appreciating the view until something made me slow down. I hadn’t even realized that I’d stopped looking until something caused me to look again! I think we can be that way with the Lord and what He has to say to us. We can get a snippet and be like, “K, thanks, God – I’ve got it from here.” We think we know what we’re supposed to do, what we need to focus on, where we need to be… and we let our own thought train travel the railway without the Lord’s engine leading us. It’s like we unhitched our car from his locomotive, only to fall behind, go down another set of tracks, or even derail entirely. We are more concerned with our own thoughts than with the Lord’s. Proverb 21:2 tells us that “A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.” The Lord is the One who knows if you are truly on the right track or if you’re just telling yourself what you want to hear.
Sometimes, it’s good to stop and consider who is really leading your life. It’s good to stop and think whether you’re truly listening to the Lord or just to the things you’re telling yourself. We can deceive ourselves, and Satan is far, far more brilliant than you or me. But he’s no match for Jesus. Allow yourself to stop and recalibrate, listen for the Lord’s direction, appreciate the moment. Luke 8:18 tells us to “Consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.” We can trick ourselves into thinking we know what’s up when we don’t have a clue because we have stopped listening to the only One who really knows it all. What is it that’s stopping you from receiving the full message the Lord has for you today? …It might just be yourself.
Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Be still, friends. – HLC
sacred strokes 