“Make me to know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long.” Psalm 25:4-5 ESV
“What is the Lord telling you?”
As I work with believers of every faith stage, this has become one of my go-to questions in a variety of scenarios, but especially when someone hears a verse or message multiple times within a short time-frame. The repetition naturally leads them to conclude, "God must have wanted me to hear this."
Unfortunately though, we often leave it at that. We do not press in and ask Him what He wants us to hear. The same goes for how He wants us to respond to what we just read in His Word or how He may be working in a specific situation, whether it be a "positive" or "negative" event.
Just the other week I talked about this with a friend, and later as I reflected on our conversation I couldn't help but correlate it to a sermon I heard around the same time. In it, the pastor commented on how we rush through life, not just by being busy but by quickly jumping through natural life transitions. Young people in particular endure the majority of this fast-paced mindset.
In middle school, we ask if they’re ready for high school. Then, in HS, we inquire about college. From there, they endure an onslaught of “What’s next” questions regarding career, home, marriage and kids. Not only is it enough pressure to experience and think about these significant life decisions, the stress is compounded as others ask young people, “When will you...?”
This leaves little room for time to sit, enjoy the current life stage and seek the Lord on what He is doing now, as well as what He desires next. Such a “quick-to-move-on” mindset then bleeds
into people’s spiritual walks as well. Rather than be still and ask the Father what He is up to or what He wants, we can be quick to move onto the next thing, or be content with knowing the Lord is doing something, without wanting to know more.
I know this has been a major part of my spiritual maturation since starting the Jesus Connection. Of course people constantly ask me where I want the ministry to be in 1, 5 and 10 years, but
several influential people in my life constantly ask me what God is up to with me in this moment, or questions like it.
Of course, the Lord wants us to hear something. He wants us to hear Him!
At first, I was frustrated by these questions. Not because they were wrong or intrusive, but because I didn't know. As a society in general, we tend to utter a quick response or opinion without much meditation. “That was a good book.” “What about it was good?” “I don’t know. It was just good.”
Many of us, but especially the younger generations, have not experienced what it is to sit with the Lord, seek His voice and ask, “Why?” Of course, the Lord wants us to hear something. He
wants us to hear Him! He wants us to slow down and behold what He is doing and what He wants.
This is a spiritual discipline we could all improve upon, and it is one younger Christians need to see modeled. And what better time to start than now, during this Advent season. Yes, the Lord is doing something. Let’s lean in together and ask Him what it is.
References:
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). Crossway Bibles.
留言