Chan talks about aspects of our lives that make it very difficult to have a close relationship with the Spirit.
Comfort – Maybe your life is too safe. I am self-sustainable. I have a plan and it’s running smoothly. I even have plans for kinks in the road. I have backup plans. And backup plans for the backup plans.
But I remember a time in the not so distant past when a huge obstacle was thrown in my path and it looked like I would lose EVERYTHING except my family and my life. And yes, I started in on some plans, plans that I thought were good, made sense, and were doable – and yet they didn’t work.
But God came through for me in big and amazing ways. Ways I never could have seen. Miracles. I started listening and trusting and praising.
Now I’m back to comfortable. Too comfortable.
Volume – Maybe your life is too loud. I am an excellent multitasker. Just like the author, I can text a friend while writing an email and having a conversation with both my husband and my daughter. Who am I focusing on when I do this? Not one thing.
Even when it is quiet and there is no one around, I still hear white noise. The fish tank’s motor groans and moans. The dehumidifiers whoosh. The computer droans. No peace. No quiet. Ever.
But I do start to get nervous, when I have eliminated just about every particle of sound in the air. It’s too quiet. What will the Spirit say to me. What will He require? Like Chan, like the Prodigal Son, I am scared to approach the Father. I am not worthy. I eat and sleep with the pigs.
Quenching the Holy Spirit’s conviction. So even in the solitude, my mind tries to force the Spirit out. Remember that book? The Battlefield of the Mind? That wasn’t all so long ago … I’m supposed to have a rested mind, but alert and … must go back and reread …
And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.
Deuteronomy 4:13 (ESV)
No comments:
Post a Comment