We are studying the books of Samuel this year and our theme is Speak Lord , We are Listening.
For those of you who were unable to attend the opening session the devotion for this morning was helpful in expanding on the theme and direction for this year and so I am copying it and including it in this blog . I hope to see you all again next week, the Lord willing.
Opening Session Devotions - written by Freda Kennedy
This year I
had an exciting summer, too. One of the
things I did was visit Newfoundland with my family. N.L tourism has this most fabulous
advertising, that won international awards with the Slogon, Is it possible to feel at the same
time lost and found?
A play on
the word New found land , it goes on to explain that to find what you are
looking for, you must first be willing to let
go of expectations, to really lose yourself . and then, there you will
be . Lost. And found.
With
wonderful glorious vistas of mountains and cliffs, and fijords the advertising
caption reads Lost: a map
Found:
perspective or Lost: my watch
found: the time and even Lost:
myself Found; myself
The add was
enticing people to come to N.L. to find themselves lost in a world so vast and
timeless that you would have to spend time just soaking it all up, getting rid
of all that stuff from your life and
finding
yourself again while you experienced the vastness and beauty surrounding you.
We loved
our visit to N.L. and the ad was
right. It’s a place of such grandeur and
beauty that you are in awe, and you could spend hours just looking. To help you they would put down chairs on the
hiking trails along the cliff edges so
you could just sit and soak in the view.
We were
fortunate at one point to find a spot where we could sit down at the edge of
the cliff and watch hundreds of Puffins just metres away on a near by
island. We spent a long time just
watching these birds and enjoying the gorgeous day.
They didn’t
tell you though in these adverstisements, to be careful at the cliff edges, as
they are extremely high up, with no barriers, … my daughter Sarah and I, feeling
quite fearless would go to the very edge of the cliff, however the
other members of our family, my husband especially, would be so full of angst ,
because he’s afraid of heights ,which always made him laugh nervously, and he would
get us all screaming and laughing anxiously if any one of us neared to close to get a better look.
In this
place, of immense vistas we felt so small, almost lost in the grandeur – and
yet it gave us another sense of how great our God is and how awesome to be part
of His creation too = lost yet found.
In our
world of busyness and noise, a world of
crowds and rushing around, we too can feel lost among all the people, all the
busyness, all the noise, we feel like we’ve lost our way, what’s it all about,
what is the real purpose to life, how do I find out, how do I find God, how
does God find me, how do I find my t self.
This year
we will be studying the books of Samuel and Our theme is Speak Lord , We are
listening, that comes from a passage iin Samuel – which I wiould like to read,
1 Samuel 3: 1- 10
The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.
2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lampof God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then theLord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lordhad not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak,Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
It took 3
times to get Samuels attention.. How many times does God have to speak our name
before we listen?
In the
business of life there is often no time to stop and listen, to ourselves, to
our partners, to our children, especially it seems to stop and to listen to God.
Speak Lord,
I am listening… wouldn’t it be wonderful if it was so easy, and God would speak
directly to us so we could hear, just like Samuel. Then we would know exactly what God wanted,
exactly which way to go.
And
sometimes that may happen, but generally God doesn’t work that way, it was so
unusual in Samuel’s day that it took three times before he and Eli realized it
was God.
So how do
we hear God today? Do we even want
to? Are we afraid of what we might hear?
Are we
Really
ready to hearwhat He says? To do do what he asks?
I’m not so
sure, I’ m really comfortable in my routines, and my busy schedule, I know this
way of doing things, what if listening to God means I have to listen to what’s
going on in my inner self, deal with issues that have been left to fester,
clean up the messes I’ve made ?
I don’t
know seems a lot easier, a lot safer to just keep on keeping on…
Speak Lord,
I’m listening…..
That means
slowing down, stopping the business, taking a Sabaath from all the work, so
that you can hear, first, and listen.
Sabaath is
a beautiful word, a word meaning rest, a day God creates for us in Genesis when
he created the world , Sabaath a gift for us to rest, and spend time in
conversation with God, Speak Lord ,we are listening…
There are
lots of ways of taking a Sabaath, from worshipping in Church, to taking long
walks in the woods, meditating on Gods word, or simpy turning off all the noise
makers in the house and sitting in silence or reading a book, or visitng a
place like N.L.
But when
the noise and busyness is gone, the anxiety, worry and past issues come roaring
up. What then? Where then is the rest? I know , I have been there, and initially it
takes time to let all that stuff settle, and let God help you deal with it, and
then you look back and you see that it was worth it, dealing with all that
stuff, returning to a quiet place , because now there is less noise, now there
is room to hear what God is saying. It’s not always an easy road, but it is the
one that will fill us and satisfy us as we learn to listen to God and start to
have a real relationship with the Lord.
In our
passage it said that Samuel did not yet
know the Lord: The word of the Lord had
not yet been revealed to him. He did not
yet know the Lord. He had to stop and
listen to what the Lord was telling him.
Do we know
the Lord, yet? Is it time to stop and
Llisten.
We too have an opportunity to allow the word of the
Lord to be revealed to us, through creation, through his word, through his
people, through times of Sabaath , times of rest, so that we may hear and so that we may listen and know the Lord…
Speak Lord, your servant is listening.
Our
Heavenly Father is seeking us constantly, for we are all lost, and need to be
found. We need to allow ourselves to be
found by a God who loves u s, we need to stop the busyness nad listen to what
God is saying… not what we are saying… we need to lose ourselves so we can find ourselves in God.
But that can cause that angst as we feel like
we are on a precipice, or cliff and not sure if we will fall over. But God is a loving God, and he says that he
will be with us through it all. Maybe we
are afraid that He will ask us to do more than we feel ready to do, like go off
to Africa for Missions, or give all our money away to the poor, and …he might,
but likely not until it’s the desire of your heart J
More likely he will just work in you to be more the person he created
you to be right where you are. To be
more like Christ to your husband and children and neighbour. To grow more of the fruit of the spirit, in
kindness, gentleness, selfcontrol. That
is the miracle that I want to see, God transforming me from the inside out.
That’s
scary too, but its worth it.
This year I
pray will be an amazing year of getting to know this God of the Bible through the book of Samuel. We will see how he make s a nation out of his
people, the Israelites, and how it is his faithfulness that is never failing,
How all he asks of us is to listen and obey.
Something the Israelites found so hard to do. Something we find hard to do, something I
find hard to do. Maybe we will find some
lessons in this book that will help us to Grow in our relationship with the
Lord, that will help us to stop and say Speak Lord, We are listening.
I’m really
excited about that opportunity because God is such an amazing God – and the God
who created this amazing world and each one of us, can do so much more than we
can even imagine
If we just
take the time to listen and follow Him.
Speak Lord,
We are Listening.
