Tuesday, September 14, 2010

God speaks, now I can listen

It's amazing, the things God says when you have an ear to listen.
Today, our speaker, Donna Jordan, an awesome woman, gave us three questions to ask God.
1)God, what do you think or feel about me?
2)Jesus, what do we have in common?
3)Lord, what plans do you have for my future?

So I walked outside of the lecture tent and had no idea where I was headed, but I was going to get there.
God says to me, "Go into the forest."
So I go into the forest.
God says, "Go sit on that bridge and I'll tell you what you need to hear."
So I go and I sit on the bridge, and before I can ask the question, God put the word "water" into my head. I went on to ask God, "God, what do you think or feel about me?"
No answer.
Only the word "water."
So, I looked in the index in my bible for the word "Water" and Psalm 23 was there. it talked about how God was the good shepherd, leading us beside still waters. And then it hit me. God is my shepherd. I am one of his flock. He takes care of me wherever I go. When I stray from the straight and narrow, he's there to pull be back on track with love and kindness.
So then, the next question. Jesus, what do we have in common?
But, before I could ask the question, God again had placed a word on my mind. "Wept" so again, I looked in my index. Wept, John 11:35, "Jesus wept."
So you and I have both cried, Jesus? Whoa. You're as human as I am? You would have loved a slice of pizza, an ice cold rootbeer and a movie? You would have partied and laughed with me? You would have cracked stupid jokes all day with me? You were fully human. That was what we had in common. We shared the same struggles (Kind of) and the same joys (Kind of).The same pain and fears. The same hopes and dreams.
Man, that's hard to swallow. It's hard to think that that idea had never occurred to me. Jesus as human as I am? Intense.
Third question, but again, for the third time, before I can even ask, God had a word on my mind. "Beauty."
"Okay, Lord. What do you have in store for my future? What plans do you have for me?... "Beauty?.. Uh... Okay...? I have no idea what that means. Well, there were scriptures for the rest of them, why not this one, too?" So I looked for a third time in the index. Two passages stood out to me. Isaiah 52, and Song of Songs 1 and 2. So I looked.
Isaiah 52:6-7 says:

Therefore my people will know my name;
       therefore in that day they will know
       that it is I who foretold it.
       Yes, it is I."
  How beautiful on the mountains
       are the feet of those who bring good news,
       who proclaim peace,
       who bring good tidings,
       who proclaim salvation,
       who say to Zion,
       "Your God reigns!"

The first thing I thought of as I read this passage was "Missionary work? You want to me to be a missionary, God? Really? That's the last thing I wanted to do, though."
I whined at God for a while longer and finally he says to me, "And missionary work is the last thing you will do." So, I'm going to be a missionary until God says otherwise.
And then, the passage in Song of Song was talking about a wife being all super sappy to her husband and I felt God telling me that a wife was in my future... So, That's that. So says God. More to come in the future.

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