Wednesday March 10 meditation

To whom are you listening?

WoW #c

March 10,  2010

Can you hear me now? 

Verizon has gotten a lot of mileage out of that commercial haven’t they?  I love the way bluefish TV turned it around to teach about prayer.  But don’t you think God must ask the same question sometimes?

Yoo-hoo Adam can you hear me now?

Hey Wilderness Wanderers can you hear me now?

Now that I have destroyed the Philistine army, can you hear me now?

Jonah, when you get the whale vomit washed off, I have a question.  Can you hear me now?

Disciples, Corinthians, church members, Terry. . .  can you hear me now?

There are so many voices in our world. 

1.      Voices from the media predicting doom, promising happiness if we just buy this particular brand of magic something or another,  encouraging us to compromise on our beliefs,  teaching our children things that we would rather they didn’t learn.  And God says can you hear me know?

2.      Voices from our families, and friends.  Pulling us this way and that way, demanding attention here and begging for time there.  Sure our families and friends are important but is that the voice that we want to drive our lives?  And then we hear God ask “can you hear me now?”

3.      Voices from our gut.  How many hungry children have you seen on TV this month?  How many pathetic dogs?  How many needy organizations have told you they will have to shut their doors if you don’t send them some money.  How many organizations and commitments do you have tugging at your guilt strings for your time and your energy? They may all be worthy, but many distract from the important work at hand.  God says “do you hear me now?”

4.      And voices from our heads.  We think we ought to do that.  We know we need to do this.  Do you have a voice in your head that says, “You screwed up again?  You never do anything right?”  I do.  Do you have a voice that says, “There are 14 reasons that won’t work?”  I do.  Do you have a voice saying “You’ll never win, you’ll never get on top of your finances.  You’ll never catch up.  You’ll never be good enough.  You’ll never. . . “  whatever. . .  Most of us do.

But those aren’t the only voices in our lives.  They aren’t even the most important voices in our lives. When they get to rattling around and buzzing in our brains sometimes we just have to say “SHUT UP!”  Don’t you think God hears all that and just wants to say “Be still.”  When the wind blows and the waves push us here and there and our brains are on input overload, demand overload, need overload, hurt overload, and guilt overload---  When our eyes are focused on the waves and wind instead of on Jesus.  WE WILL SINK! 

We must sort out all the voices.  Sort out the voices that try to claim our allegiance.  Throw out the voices that claim moral or spiritual primacy over the teachings of Jesus.  Ignore the voices that seek to distract us from the important work of the Kingdom of God. Focus on the voice- the single solitary voice that says it is I come.  The single solitary face that glows with love and acceptance.  The single solitary hand that reaches into the storm of our lives and the only one that can truly promise salvation: JESUS.

There is a voice to which we should be listening.  It is a voice of love, a voice of hope.  A voice of truth.  Listen to the voice of truth.

Video.