Are You Listening?

Imagine a world without headphones. Everyone's vast variety of music colliding into chaos. In some places, music would be banned. After all, we can't have everyone blaring music in libraries, coffee shops, bookstores. Headphones allow us to listen to our favorite speakers, musicians, and movies. We enjoy our favorites without imposing on other people. We shield ourselves from being invaded by other people.

What do we miss in the process?

I was recently talking to a friend without realizing she was wearing headphones. She heard nothing that I said. I wondered...how often is God talking to me when I'm wearing headphones? What am I missing? It's not that he's not talking. I'm not listening. I'm clueless he's talking, because I'm absorbed by something else.

I'm consumed with my to-do list. My problems. My needs. My wants.

What are you absorbed by today?

Is there an area of your life God seems to be silent? How do you know when God, in his silence, is urging you to wait and trust...and when he seems silent but is actually speaking?

Ask yourself: Am I wearing headphones? Am I consumed with my own wants, needs, problems, to-do list that I can't hear God speaking to me?

God is only silent in purpose. And his silence is limited. God speaks to us in a myriad of ways, but we have to be listening. We must hone a keen awareness. Watch. Search. Listen. Study. Speak.

Unplug. Take away the distractions. Headphones may help us be sensitive to those around us, but they hinder our relationship with God. You'll have to choose. Your preferences and your world or God's. Which will you choose today?

To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. - Matthew 13:12 (NLT)

Need Energy?

When was the last time you felt unmotivated and unproductive? What prompts that feeling in you? Busy schedule, exhaustion, weather, stress... What if I told you there's a way to tap into endless energy?

This isn't a commercial for a new "fix-all-your-problems" product. I'm not going to give you an 800 number and tell you all you have to pay for is shipping, of if you order now, you can double your order. Yet I am going to challenge you to look in a mirror and ask yourself:

• How do you create your to-do list?
• How do you get energized?

I'm a list-maker. Someone saw my datebook yesterday and exclaimed, "Look at how organized you are!" I love marking items off my to-do list. What a sense of accomplishment. But years ago, I was convicted. I composed the lists myself. My tasks, my goals, my priorities. I felt like a failure if I didn't complete my list for the day or week. My lists became more important than the tasks. I rationalized the importance of my lists. After all, I had to take care of my husband, home, and two daughters, which can seem like a juggling act some days.

And God said, "What about my list for you?" Hhm. I can rationalize all I'm doing is for God...but is it? Really?

Through that same time, I also relied on myself to generate enough energy to get me through the day. I thought I was pacing myself well, because I'd try to get enough sleep, exercise, and even take relaxing breaks through the day to read to my daughters, enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, or exercise my creativity through quilting or something.

So God worked on me about my lists. Sure, I still create the list, but I give it to him. My time is his time. He's just giving me the hours and minutes to use as he intends. What doesn't get done on my list apparently wasn't on his list for today. I'll let him reprioritize tomorrow.

But the energy? I hadn't been as convicted about my energy source until recently...when I read 1 Colossians 1:29 (NIV): To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

The "to this end" is God's will. His to-do list. His list is the goal, not mine. It's not easy. In fact, the next word is...struggling! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who struggles! It's the remainder of that phrase that gets me. With all his energy. Hmm. Sure, I know God gives me everything I need. I know he fills me up with fruit of the Spirit: patience, kindness, gentleness, joy, etc. I know that as he fills me up, I must let what he gives me flow out of me; otherwise, I'm filled with rotting fruit. But his energy?

The New Living Translation says the same phrase this way: depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. Depending. Do I truly and completely depend on God for energy, power, and guidance?

No. But today is a new day. And I'm feeling energized and ready! How about you?

Adventurous Routine

Routine stabilizes yet bores me. Adventure thrills me but can also wreak havoc on my focus. I not only have to balance the two; I have to blend them. Like this morning.

I'm a walker. I try to walk every day, usually around eight miles. Some days are more, some are less, and some days I don't fit it in at all, but the general routine is to walk first thing in the morning. I love the sights and sounds of the morning. The freshness inspires me. And when I walk in the morning, I don't have the pressure of "fitting it in" as my day gets busy.

In addition the routine of when I walk, I'm consistent in where I walk. I live in a small town, and there aren't many options to walk as far as I do. I skirt the town and create loops to add miles. I walk with a focus: I push myself physically, but I relax my mind. My walking time is one of the most inspiring and uplifting times of my day. (And I've decided it's a good thing that I haven't figured out how to write while I walk. Even though I'd likely be creative, I'd then squeeze work into yet another block of my day!)

When and where are you most inspired and uplifted on a regular basis?

This morning when I set out I knew God was telling me to step outside my routine and be adventurous. Walk a different path. I know all the roads around town, so there aren't "new" roads, but there are definitely paths that take me out of my routine. And I knew it wasn't about the path I took. I was supposed to listen for fresh thoughts. New challenges. God knew what was in store for me today and wanted to pour into me a fresh perspective.

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. - Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

In the midst of your routine, seek adventure. Drive a different route to and from work. Fold your towels in a new way. Sit in different chairs at the dinner table. Your adventure doesn't have to be drastic...just enough of a twist within your routine to open your ears and eyes to what God is trying to say to you. Perhaps you're so focused on your routine, you're taking God for granted.