Monthly Musings: September

Is it just me or is this year travelling at warp speed? It’s the end of September and here are a few thoughts for the month.

Spring – The blossoms on my ornamental plum tree are long gone, but the crabapple tree is just starting to bud. A few more days and it should be a cloud of pink.

Friends – I’ve been reminded of the pleasure of time spent with friends. This month I helped friends and family celebrate their birthdays, enjoyed dinner and conversation with a close friend, and began to make a new friend over lunch. Good food with good friends – one of my favourite things.

Books – Do you love books? Choosing books? Reading books? Talking about  books? It wasn’t until I read Emily P. Freeman’s latest blog post asking for book recommendations that I realised that I don’t have enough book conversations in my life. Coincidentally the only book I’ve actually finished this month is Emily’s new book Simply Tuesday: small-moment living in a fast-moving world. September has been an inconsistent reading month for me. I’ve added a number of new books to the reading list but they’re all still works in reading progress.

Here are a couple of quotes from Emily’s book that resonated with me as someone who needs time to process things. Maybe they will resonate with you too.

Productivity skills have helped me meet important deadlines and release unnecessary perfectionism.
The problems come when I foolishly try to apply these same skills to my inner life.
The soul and the schedule don’t follow the same rules.

and

Many people are in a season of speed, a time of movement, of action, and go. But that is not where I usually am. And I cannot wait for the world to stop to embrace my permission for slow.
What part of your personality seems to fight against your own perceived ability to succeed? What might happen if your stopped bullying your personality into submission and instead began to welcome it as a kind friend?
So here’s to you, my fellow slow-processors. Take the long way home. Embrace the silence to consider. Give yourself permission to think, to listen, to be sure.

Writing – And as October is waiting in the wings you may remember that last year I joined the Write 31 Days challenge to write on one topic every day in October. This year I’ve decided to take on the challenge again, and I’ve chosen a topic that’s particularly relevant for me at the moment. Check out the first post of the series tomorrow.

 

31 Days: It’s only the Beginning of Listening

Today brings us to the end of 31 Days to Listen, and I wanted to finish with the story of Samuel who was born as an answer to prayer and dedicated to serve God (1 Samuel 1, 2). He learned as a young boy to listen to the Lord.

1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-21 (NIV)

The Lord Calls Samuel

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

…

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

I love that Samuel is attentive and responsive. I love that the Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and that the Lord revealed himself to Samuel. The Lord of the Universe revealing himself to a man – what an incredible privilege.

The Lord is always looking for someone who will listen to Him. May we continue learning to recognise the Lord when he is calling us, and may we also be the ones who listen and follow Him.

This is Day 31 of 31 Days to Listen. Thank you for joining me on this challenge. I’ll be taking a rest from posting for a few days, but I would love to hear from you if you’ve enjoyed this focussed attention on one subject. If you would like another series (perhaps 2-3 posts each week) please drop me a note in the Comments section below.

31 Days: Listening to Jesus the Son

So here’s an interesting fact about sunflowers. When they’re growing, sunflowers tilt their heads to track the sun through the day. For that reason I’ve always liked the sunflower as an analogy for the way that we’re to turn our faces to the Son, to follow him.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-5, 14

 

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Hebrews 1:1-3a

Every time we listen to what Jesus taught, we are hearing the voice of the living God.
…
The teachings of Jesus Christ are not to be blended into the Scriptures as though He were one of many equally important voices used by God. He is, in truth, the living revelation of God Himself, the sole expression of His invisible glory. When Christ speaks, we are listening to God unfiltered, unbiased, unveiled.

Francis Frangipane,  I will be Found by You

Will you come near to listen? Will you tilt your head to follow the Son, and listen to him?

Photo sourced here.

This is Day 30 of 31 Days to Listen.

31 Days: Listening – choosing what is better

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

I walked for an hour this evening, just to be with God. That was His invitation. “Walk with me.” It took all of that hour and more for my mind and spirit to settle from the day’s distractions.

Listening well often takes time, patience and commitment, and even then we may not always feel that we have heard God speaking.

Whenever you are tempted to think that you are wasting your time by listening, I encourage you to remember that Mary chose what was better. Don’t give up.

This is Day 29 of the series 31 Days to Listen.

31 Days: Listening to God speak through Others

Have you ever experienced God speaking to you specifically through another person? I have.

About tens years ago I was going through a period of real struggle over the fact that I was still single in my thirties. A good friend had been walking that journey with me, and as she was praying for me God gave her some verses of scripture and a word that he wanted me to ‘rejoice’ and ‘be joyful’, despite that the fact that we had seen no answers to prayer.

She sent me a note to share the words and the scripture reference. It was Habakkuk 3:17-19. You may be familiar with it.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
Habakkuk 3:17-10

I’d like to say I was greatly encouraged, and immediately received this word with joy. In reality, I sobbed my heart out. I felt like the fig that does not bud and the vines without grapes. All I felt was lack. I didn’t see all the other ways God had blessed me, not least the incomparable gift of Himself.

He loved me enough to speak specifically to me though my friend, and he’d been trying to get my attention for a while. The same verses were in a birthday card my friend had sent me the year before. I’d just never gotten around to looking up the reference. God was speaking to me even then, but I wasn’t listening.

Learning to ‘rejoice’ and ‘be joyful’ was a milestone in my journey with God, because it taught me to see beyond my circumstances, beyond my own desire for a husband, to the One who desires to be first and foremost in my heart.

Do you have a story to share in the Comments?

Photo Credit: krwlms via Compfight cc

This is Day 28 of the series 31 Days to Listen.