Wednesday, January 25, 2017

SPEAK TO ME!

“I mean, the Pastor doesn’t even speak to me!”  said the  cashier.  This line resonated in my heart all day following a brief conversation I had while purchasing my groceries.  Somehow, the fact that I am married to a pastor of a local church surfaced in our conversation and from that tidbit of information was launched a monologue by the cashier centered on her desire to leave her church.  The statement above was the one thing she could not move beyond and therefore the reason she felt she must attend somewhere else.  After thinking about this statement for some time, and reminding my husband to be sure to engage people, I suddenly realized the importance of such a simple thing.  What this woman was really expressing behind her words was a desire to be acknowledged by the pastor.  What he said to her really wasn’t the issue; it was more the act of speaking directly to her, which then validated her presence and existence. 

Many times I pray for God to SPEAK TO ME.  When I am distraught with emotion and bogged down with worry, I desperately cry out and ask Him to SPEAK TO ME! Like David in Psalm 30:8-9, “To you, O Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy; What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit?’ (NIV)  I want to hear His gentle words of encouragement and compassion.  At times when decisions need to be made and answers need to come quickly, I beg Him to SPEAK TO ME with words of wisdom and direction Verse 10 of that same chapter says, “Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me, O Lord, be my help.”    In the midst of insecurity and relational angst I implore Him to SPEAK TO ME!  Earlier, verse 6, David states, “When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” O Lord, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.”

Life provides many opportunities for me to lose sight of how He does SPEAK TO ME, not just in certain situations, but constantly all around me.  No where else in the Bible are there more beautiful words chained together than in the Psalms.  When I desire to hear His voice and to receive the validation of my existence I read these beautiful words in chapter 29:3-9,

“The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. . .
The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightening.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.”

Later in the day, I wondered if the cashier I spoke with had even approached her pastor.  What were her expectations of his behavior and were they realistic?  Was she taking into account the pastor’s own circumstances?  Perhaps, he was having a personal crisis.  Had she even attempted to make friendly contact with this man or had she just assumed it was his place to move first?  Was her judgment of this man as “unfriendly” based on a one- time encounter or was her decision to leave the church coming from a deeper place in her heart?  The diagnosis of her pastor’s unfriendliness could be completely accurate and changes within his attitude may need to come to fruition, but he may be completely unaware of his demeanor.   Her decision to leave the church could be based on a misunderstanding, which could easily be rectified through loving communication. 

When I am crying out to the Lord, perhaps, I spend too much time waiting to hear something specific.   Do I allow myself to become immobilized when I cannot hear His voice because it is drowned out by the voices of others?  Maybe I do hear His voice, but not the words I prefer.    I can choose to ignore what I hear and continue to expect Him to speak all the while disregarding what He is actually saying.  My own movements and actions can then become rooted in my own expectations, motivated only by my wounded perceptions of God. 

Going back to Psalm 29, it is clear that God has a voice and that He utilizes it over heaven and earth.  How then, can I deny the fact that He does SPEAK TO ME! The greater question is, am I listening and really hearing His voice?    Like the cashier, will I run simply because His words are not pleasing to me? 

His voice is powerful, majestic and over the waters, according to Psalm 29.  If His voice is over the waters, therefore, it is also over me.  If His voice is powerful and majestic, then it is easily heard and respected. If His voice breaks the cedars and strikes like lightening, then it can swiftly be identified as His because only He is able to accomplish such deeds.  If His voice shakes and twists, then I can actually feel it encompassing me.  Perhaps my attention needs to be less on His words and more on the fact that this powerful and majestic God is speaking directly to me.  At this point His words are irrelevant and my response then is simple,  “And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” Psalm29:9.