Friday, January 15, 2016

A Call to Prayer and Listening

I woke up with a certain heaviness this morning. As I went through my day, I increasingly got the impression that I am not the only one. I think there is a heaviness in the spirits of many students on the IWU campus, for example.

I don't think it is just IWU. As I reflected even on the presidential debate last night, it felt to me like the anger was burning out. It seemed to me like the candidates felt like they really needed to be angry, but they just weren't feeling it.

So you have a lot of people with the emptiness that comes when you're exhausted from being angry. Then you have the silently despondent, who are shell shocked from everyone else yelling at each other.

It seems like this is a rare moment. It feels like there is an emptiness that is longing to be filled. There is a directionless wandering that is longing for direction.

I don't need another sermon telling me about sins I need to repent of. And it's not going to help me to preach another sermon telling everyone else where they're wrong. That's part of why we're all feeling empty in the first place.

Forget everyone else's sins and problems. I'm thinking this is a timely weekend to wait on God to say something to me. What does he want to tell me? Where does he want to direct me? How does he want to change me?

Anyone else up for a weekend of prayer, reflection, and listening? Fill my cup, Lord.

3 comments:

Martin LaBar said...

We need God.

Unknown said...

Listening is a great disipline, especially if you are submissive enough to hear and follow through when God's message includes the need for repentance. Otherwise, we just end up being like the unbelievers who merely hear what they want to hear.

Ken Schenck said...

I thought I might follow up on the comment on repentance. I believe repentance will probably be a major element in anything God might tell me or others. The reason why I think a weekend with a clear mind is in order is because God may want us to repent in our blind spots. Rehearsing old lists of things to repent of may blind us to God's list for ME.