A Sunday Revelation
As the children’s ministry assistant, a large part of my job is communication. Talking with people. Connecting with families. This past Sunday, I was running rather late to church. I awoke to a text message at about 7:45: on a normal Sunday, I am at the church and getting things set up for the day by this time. I couldn’t believe I had slept through my alarm! If you know anything about me, you know that I hate being late. I can't stand it. I like to show up early, at least 10 minutes before the scheduled time to arrive. I hopped out of bed, got ready in about 15 minutes, and drove (sped?) quickly to church. I was amazed that I made it out of my apartment with the same kind of shoe on each foot.
As I hustled and bustled around the church to make up for my tardiness, the same thought continued to run across my mind. “Do not let this one thing ruin your day." "Do NOT let this one thing ruin your day."I surprised myself. It is so easy for me to get a handle on that "one thing" and let it spin my day out of proportion. I decided that today was not going to be that day.
I'm blessed to be a part of a growing, vibrant children's ministry. Because of this, we have walkie talkies in each classroom for teachers to use if they need to get in touch with us, or if they're missing materials they'd like to use for the lesson that day. I continued to set things up for the day, and had my walkie talkie on just in case. I reached into my back pocket, and much to my dismay, my antennae was missing! How odd. Later, I tried to unscrew the antennae on a different walkie talkie to see if mine actually broke, or if it just became too loose. As I suspected, it became too loose and fell off! I reflected on this for the greater majority of the day and thought about the purpose of an antennae.
With a missing antennae, a radio can't communicate as efficiently. It can't find a signal as easily to connect with another radio. I was reminded of how often I'm that way with the Father. I stop searching. I stop listening. I stop abiding in Him. The Father gently prompted me with Mark 8:18 which says, "Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear?"
When I choose to simply hear without listening, I'm ceasing to communicate. I'm missing my antennae-the vital connection with Papa God! It is easy to hear without truly listening. Listening is an action. Listening to the Father spurs action and passion: whatever that looks like for each one of us. We listen to the beat of His heart, and we respond. I was reminded today how important it is to "tune in" to the Father. May we all be fine tuned to the very frequency of His heart strings to reach those around us!
Between the Shadow and the Soul: Blogging through the journey.