Listening to the quiet in the midst of all the LOUD. More often than not, when I am trying to write a blog and nothing is coming to me, that is my problem. My thoughts are so loud and sometimes frantic that it is difficult to focus and make cohesive sentences. I have to tune everything else out, and just try to listen to what God wants me to say. Most of the time, that means rereading the Scripture that Pastor Chad has shared with us on Sunday and listening to what God is saying to me while I read.
Pastor Chad talked about Moses’ mother putting him in the little basket/boat she fixed up for him and putting him into the river. We have no indication that she hesitated or that she questioned what she was doing, but I can imagine there were thoughts popping into her head. Like “What if the basket isn’t strong enough? What if the water starts seeping in? What if a crocodile gets curious? What if this doesn’t work at all?” But she did it anyway. While we have the picture of her setting the basket to drift down the river, she actually placed it in the reeds along the riverbank right by the path where Pharaoh’s daughter always walked when she was going to bathe. She also had his sister hiding and watching over him. God gave her an idea and the plan succeeded because His hand was over it all. Maybe God kept the crocodiles away with the smell of the tar and pitch with which she coated the basket. He guided her every step. Nothing was left to chance, and she ended up getting to keep her son for a while longer and was even paid to take care of him.
There had to have been a lot of noise in those moments when she was preparing. She was running out of time, her neighbors and friends were losing their sons, and she had to have been terrified for her baby. That’s a lot of distractions that could have kept her from hearing God’s plan. Fear can be very loud and can overwhelm us to the point of feeling everything is in complete chaos. Sometimes we can barely hear what a person standing next to us is saying let alone the quiet whisper of God. Those are the times we have to find ways to quiet our hearts, quiet the noise in our heads, and listen.
If we are choosing to follow Christ, He is the Lord of our lives. In the midst of the battles of everyday life, we have to take time to stand/sit/kneel in His presence and hear the plan for the day. If we want to do His will, we have to listen to HIS plan for the day. We shouldn’t wait until we’re knee deep in all kinds of trouble to start praying. Sometimes those troubles can be avoided completely if we are listening to what He would have us do. And listening requires opening our Bibles and reading, and while we read we listen to what God is saying to us through those words.
When we look at all of the examples we have been given in the Bible of people who followed God’s plan even when it seemed a little odd (think of the Israelites marching around Jericho), we cannot deny that His ways are best. Sometimes rereading those stories we heard a billion times as children and seeing them with new eyes can help remind us of the creativity and faithfulness of God. Then we can remember to put everything in His hands and let go.