Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Can You Hear Him?


Every happening, great or small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.

Malcolm Muggeridge
When my kids were little I was easily frustrated. Sticky smudges on the furniture, toys strewn all over the place, constant needs and questions and crying and poop. . .it all contributed to a grouchy mama who wasn't always careful with her tongue.

God nailed me when I watched a video by Christian speaker Florence Littauer. She described a special package she prepared for her mother, specifically wrapping it in shiny silver paper. The point of the gift was to show her mother her value. She went on to say we should think of our words as silver boxes, used to build up other's self-esteem. I remember being impressed by her insight, but also discouraged by how I talked to my children. God spoke clearly through the words of another.

But He wasn't done with me yet.

Later that week I sat in church, exasperated by the interruptions of my kids, dreaming of the day I could actually catch the entire sermon. At one point my daughter poked me and whispered, "Here, Mommy, I have a present for you," and handed me a little scrap of paper. I was ready to give my standard, "Thank you, honey" and add it to the vast collection of such papers in my purse until I looked at it.

It was literally a picture of a present, colored with a silver crayon. You think God wanted my attention?!

I gotta say God has flair, doesn't He? But He doesn't need it to speak to us. He gets His Word out in so many ways. He's spoken to me in a sunset, in worship, in surprise gifts left on my porch, in His word, through a baby's laugh, in the shower, in unexpected comments from others, in the midst of a snowstorm, even in a movie theater.

Knowing God is poised to speak at any time puts a little skip in my beat, how about you?

I'm glad for the reminder to look for His messages. When I think about the possibility of finding God in my every day, life doesn't seem so mundane any more. Knowing He may speak to me while I'm waiting in a doctor's office or helping my kids with homework makes it all seem less routine, more exciting. The fact that He might show up on a plain old Tuesday makes life more enjoyable to me somehow, less ho-hum. At any time the ordinary could become extraordinary. Now there's something to get up for in the morning! When we keep our noses in the Word, and our eyes and ears open for His message, who knows what a day will bring.

What d'ya say? Are you in?

Join our hostess of In "Other" Words today, Kathryn, at Expectant Hearts.

7 comments:

Esthermay Bentley-Goossen said...

. . . The first half of your post really has me convicted as it's been one-of-those-days around here and I am a momma with not the most pleasant of attitudes :-p

What a REMARKABLE story of silver presents. Very spot-on for those of us who get busy and fail to see that God fully and intricately orchestrates every little thing in our lives!

If we know God is in everything, we won't see anything as mundane.

Thank You!
~es.

Kathryn @ Expectant Hearts said...

Oh, I LOVE your post.. As an often frustrated mom as well, I Love it when God speaks through our kids. Thank you for sharing and linking up today.

Miriam Pauline said...

Lovely reminder to keep our eyes and ears open for God speaking into our lives. (And nice encouragement that motherhood is a gift...something God needed to speak into my life this morning of slightly grumpy kids.)

Jaime Kubik said...

I hate it when I get all icky with the boys...I felt like you were describing me personally when I read the first part of this post. But I did get the more important message -- God is at work and he does speak to us.

LittleWomen21 said...

it's so easy to discount and discard all those "works of art" my daughters pass me. Thanks for reminding me that several times they have given me real treasures and just to be thankful that they WANT to give me things.

Mary Moss said...

Yes, God does have flair! I love that!

One of mentors when I was a new Christian taught me that coincidences do not take place. God-incidences abound however!

Seems as if yours was silver!

Linda said...

Time in the word and watch for God in everything. Count me in. Now I'm off to get into the word...