Listen to Him
“Hear,
O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord the
Lord has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up
children, and they have rebelled against Me’”
(Isaiah 1:2)
We are blessed by the prayer
requests, comments, and questions sent to Friday
Study Ministries, the First Church On The Net, and
we receive jokes for the “Humor”
section. Here’s a “Humor”
item that was recently received:
“Two
pastors met at their 30th college reunion. One of
them seemed relatively young and vibrant, while the
other looked old and worn out. The younger looking
pastor asked his classmate, ‘Have you been ill?’
‘No,’ replied the older-looking pastor, ‘It's the
counseling; it really bothers me. It's hard to
listen and it exhausts me. Is it a problem for
you?’ The younger-looking man responded, ‘Who
listens?’”
A few days ago, while visiting
my mother at the skilled-nursing facility in which
she resides, we met another visitor to the home, a
lady, while we stopped for a moment in the lobby.
The lady looked like she was in her early 80’s, and
she complained about her apartment, remarking that “this
is now the SECOND apartment complex that I’ve lived
in that is filled with noisy young people!”
and she continued… “the
managers don’t listen to my complaints.”
There was more, for she was rapidly telling us about
many concerns.
I made the mistake of
suggesting that an “assisted
living facility” might work because they
would be more aware of her needs. I was about to
tell her about a place we know that is very nice,
with units not unlike small, luxury apartments, but
then noticed the deep frown on her face as she
announced that she would “NEVER
go into a place like that!” Oops. The
subject was changed and we parted company. She
wanted to tell her story, but didn’t want to listen
to any thought that suggested she might be getting
little older.
In the conversation with her,
it became apparent that, even though she’s probably
over 80, she does not particularly like to associate
with “old” people and does not want to live anywhere
near them. Like so many, she doesn’t want to even
THINK about the end of life, though it is apparent
that God, our Creator, has allowed our existence to
be limited on this earth. Denying that part of
reality does not make it different. We do get older
and refusing to think about it actually gets in the
way of the resources we need.
Hurricane Katrina slammed into
Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi a couple of weeks ago, and much like the aftermath of the tsunami that
destroyed so many homes and lives in Southeast Asia
a year ago, some are angry at God because of it. It
is now said that 10,000 may have died as a result of
Hurricane Katrina. Uncounted multitudes are
homeless and filled with grief. Some say that God
has nothing to do with such things, but others think
He does, and you know, we really DO know very little
about the reasons behind the great (and the small)
cataclysms that have filled this planet since the
beginning. For all we know, we are a primary cause
of natural disasters ourselves by pumping vast
amounts of oil out of the ground and taking other
actions that affect this planet in ways we do not
expect. Certainly the radiation that has gone into
the atmosphere and oceans, along with the chemicals
that we spray and the garbage we dump, HAVE lasting
effects. We need help, not anger, and the Lord is
who we need.
We should not ignore the Lord.
Pretending He’s not there doesn’t change the fact
that He does exist. We should also be less inclined
to blame God. Getting to know Him should be our
concern. The truth of His existence and His
intentions will likely NOT be shown by a debate
about whether He exists or not, and unfortunately
for those who do not believe, ALL shall see Him
Face-to-face. At that point, the debate will be
over. What matters is HIM, and He is the One who
decides our lives for all eternity. The only issue
when you see Him will be – did you PLEASE Him with
the life that He loaned to you for a time?
Notice in our Scripture for
today that God has “nourished
and brought up children.” He has nourished
you and is continuing to do so. If you can take a
breath into your lungs, He is the Author and Enabler
of your ability to breathe. Can you eat? It is
because of Him. Are you able to communicate in some
manner? He is the One who has made you able to
speak and He also lets your listener understand what
you say. Are you UN-able to do some or all of those
things. Then He is nourishing you by giving you
something even higher than breath, food and
communication – He is allowing you the gift of
having faith in Him, even when your life right now
is not the way you might want it to be.
In various places on the
Internet (such as antion.com),
a story is told about former U.S. President Franklin
Roosevelt, who endured long receiving lines at the
White House, and felt that no one really listened to
what he said. One day, during a reception, he
decided to try out an idea. To each person who
passed down the line and shook his hand, he
murmured, “I murdered my
grandmother this morning.” The guests
answered with phrases like, “Marvelous!
Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God
bless you, sir.” It was not until the end of
the line, while greeting the ambassador from
Bolivia, that his words were heard. It is reported
that the ambassador paused, but then leaned over to
the president and responded, “I'm
sure she had it coming.”
FINALLY, an ambassador
perceived Roosevelt’s words, but the only one who
heard was somebody who misunderstood the president’s
intent. In today’s Scripture, Almighty God laments,
“they have rebelled against
Me,” a statement which was directed toward
Israel, but it also applies to the church, and if
you think about it, everybody else on earth as
well. We rebel against the Lord by refusing to
believe He is even there, misinterpreting His
intentions when we do believe, and by not listening
to Him, whether we fully believe or not.
LISTEN to the Lord. Listen
with your heart and know that He has good intentions
for you. He is your Creator and He loves you
without limit. It is important that you listen
intelligently for He created your mind as well as
your feelings. He does speak to your heart and He
also has given You His written Word, so you may
prayerfully look and understand. Don’t be like the
pastor who felt it was stressful to listen. Don’t
be like the ambassador who listened, but did not
really think about what he heard. LISTEN to the
Lord. Let’s pray:
Father, teach us to prayerfully
listen, not only with our intellect, but also from
the heart. Enable us to understand, and let us
trust in You. Help the victims, donors and workers
in relation to Hurricane Katrina. Help the older
people among us who don’t know what to do next.
Bring Your peace to all who suffer and those who are
afraid. In Jesus Name. Amen.
