Category Archives: Hearing from God

Dull or Delightful?

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As a young girl I used to dislike sitting through church services. The sermons were always 45 minutes long, which seemed interminable. But Linnea and I talked recently about the “fun” of listening to sermons now, sometimes going online to hear one after another much like someone viewing a year’s worth of a favorite TV series in one weekend.

Abraham bows before the angels

Those childhood sermons were wasted on me because I hadn’t figured out how interesting the Bible could be. For example, yesterday’s sermon at my Michigan church was based on Genesis 18, the story of an elderly Abraham and Sarah receiving baby news from 3 angels. I’ve heard the story many times but know that each time I come to it, God can reveal something new. This time through, he showed me a whole bunch of new things:

1.   When the 3 angelic guests arrived, Abraham told Sarah to quickly make cakes using 3 seahs of flour. According to the notes, that’s 36 pounds! She had to do some major mixing and kneading, not to mention baking. Meanwhile, the 3 very honored guests had to wait quite a while for this “quick” lunch, including the time it took to kill, quarter, and roast a calf. It says: Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” (Genesis 18:6)

2.   It’s also interesting the Lord didn’t say, “In 9 months you’ll have the baby.” He said, “A year from now.” He made them wait, no doubt testing their faith. It says: “The Lord said… about this time next year, Sarah shall have a son.” (Genesis 18:14)

3.   One of the angel-messengers (who was thought to actually be the Lord himself, looking like an angel) said, “I’ll be coming back to you in a year, when the baby is born.” Later he repeated it for emphasis: “I’ll be back here in a year.” If that really was the Lord, what a spectacular promise! When the baby finally came, he wanted to be part of the celebration, too! I love that. It says: “I will surely return to you about this time next year.” (Genesis 18:10)

4.   And something else: Sarah usually gets a bad rap for laughing from her hiding spot behind the tent door (laughing about their ages of 89 and 99). “Sarah laughed to herself…” (Genesis 18:12) But this time as I read the story, God showed me that Abraham had laughed, too, for the same reason (in the previous chapter). I’d never noticed that before. It says: “Abraham fell on his face and laughed…” (Genesis 17:17)

Old age motherhood

5.   And isn’t it delightful that God, who named Isaac himself, chose the name that means “laughter”? It’s as if he was saying, “I totally understand why both of you laughed at this outlandish turn of events. I know it sounds crazy, but isn’t it a happy kind of crazy?” It says: “God said… you shall call his name Isaac.” [laughter] (Genesis 17:19) Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me.” (Genesis 21:6)

I have to laugh, too, with satisfying delight at finding such wonderful detail nestled in the words of God.

 

Obstructed

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Most of life’s crises begin so small they’re imperceptible. Whether it’s a cavity, a roof leak, or car trouble, in the beginning we know nothing.

Several months ago, I noticed our shower floor drain wasn’t draining as it should. Since this “beach shower” in the basement is the only shower we’ve got, I should have taken immediate action but ignored it for several more weeks. As it worsened, I thought pouring a gallon of bleach down the drain would help, but no.

Floor flood

More weeks passed, and the post-shower floor-puddle grew bigger and bigger. Eventually Nelson tried a plunger, followed by a toilet auger, then a liquid drain opener, and finally 25 feet of cable he purchased at Home Depot, hand-wound down the drain. But still it worsened with the water taking a full day to drain after each shower.

Eventually my neighbors came with a second cable, working in two linked floor drains, but the problem continued. We bought “the most powerful drain-unclogger in the world,” but the pipes responded by becoming 100% blocked.

*          *              *              *              *              *              *              *              *

When any of us first become aware a problem is brewing and have a chance to take quick action, we often don’t.  Our reasons seem valid at the time:

  • My car’s been running great for 75,000 miles. That little noise is probably nothing.
  • I had a physical exam a month ago. If this new pain was significant, the doctor would have caught it then.
  • That spark in the wall outlet was just a one-time thing.

It’s easy to subscribe to the quasi-truth that “no news is good news,” at least until telltale signs of trouble pop up: a dripping noise under the kitchen sink, a thermostat unwilling to hit 70, a dog incessantly scratching himself. Instead of tackling the problem head-on, though, it’s simpler to hope it’ll correct itself.

But our hearts know better.

Spiritually we function in much the same way. Maybe we let a couple of white lies slip out, knowing they’re wrong but planning to correct them later. Then when we find ourselves in a lie-littered disaster zone, we regret indulging in that first little fib. Or maybe we fudge on a tax form, promising to catch up next time and end up with penalties and interest many times the size of our original bill.

God gave each of us an early warning system to help us stay out of trouble: a conscience. He’s moving us to take action the minute we think, “I shouldn’t be doing this.” If we ignore that and plunge ahead, we’ll be on our way to a mountain of misery.

How far can we go...

Today my relatives arrived with a 50 foot rented, motorized cable, but after 4 hours of back-breaking effort, our sign still says, “No showers allowed.”

Stay tuned…

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Miss Octopus

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Little Emerald is a happy baby, smiling even when she’s exhausted or hungry, sometimes when we’re not even looking at her. And if she’s crying, the slightest encouragement brings a smile while she’s still in tears. She even smiles at her rattles and toys, though she saves her best grins for one toy in particular: Miss Octopus.

Miss Octopus

This aqua-colored stuffed animal was designed to hang from a baby’s play gym, but Emerald liked it so much we hung it from a kitchen cabinet instead. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t have several communication sessions with Miss Octopus, gazing up at her from a blanket on the counter.

I don’t think Emerald loves Miss Octopus with the same adoration she feels for Birgitta, but there’s definitely a strong attraction. When she gets a glimpse of her blue friend she gets instantly happy, no matter what her mood.

Emerald’s world is limited compared to the rest of us. She’s never been far from home and is happiest when keeping to a calm, slightly dull routine. Because of that, it doesn’t take much to get her excited.

That’s not true for the rest of us. We’ve been around the block a few times, so to speak, and it takes quite a bit more than the wide smile of a stuffed octopus to get us going. That’s especially true of our spiritual lives. We might find that our Bible reading and prayer times don’t enthuse us anymore, though we’re not sure of the reason.

Maybe it’s because we haven’t experienced God doing anything for us lately, so we’ve become indifferent toward him. And the reason behind that might be we’ve forgotten what he looks like, so have missed what he’s done for us.

Scripture tells us how to “see” him. We’re to watch for unusual circumstances that first appear to be merely coincidental. Do they have something to do with what we’ve prayed about? If so, could it be God’s movement we’re seeing?

We’ve also learned that when life starts falling apart, we’re supposed to watch for him. In the midst of everything going bad, he’s usually right around the corner. Another place we might see him is just after we’ve received shocking news of any kind. When we cry out in anguish, he responds from nearby, showing himself to be very close.

Delight over Miss Octopus

There are other ways we can see God too, such as in the natural world, but none of the above “sightings” will happen without one prerequisite: we have to look for him. And just like little Emerald looks for Miss Octopus when she’s put on the kitchen counter, we ought to strain to see our Lord. Then, when we do, it’ll be even more exciting than Emerald getting a glimpse of her much-loved octo-friend.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)