Wake Up and Listen

Isaiah 50:4 

“…He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”

When I graduated from college I was so very happy to have accomplished, what was then, a lifetime goal.  No more homework, no more tests, no more studying things I will never use.  It was great.  At first, I was overjoyed by the new found time in my day to pursue any other passion than school.  While I was awake, I was in the zone enjoying my freedom, it was in my sleep that I was in prison.  Night after night I would wake up frantic and scared that I had missed class or not done a homework assignment.  It took a while to break the cycle but now I can sleep without the haunting feeling of missing an assignment.  

The Bible says that the Lord speaks in a still small voice, among other ways as well but for me it is always a still small voice.  It can be a feeling or mental nudge.  It can be while I am reading a book of the Bible and a phrase or verse pops out and speaks to me.  I spent years reading Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost For His Highest” every morning.  He would write a verse down and seem to focus on one or two words and draw out some really great stuff.  I highly recommend reading it every day. 

Just like me, waking up worried about the school work I did not have to do, the Lord will wake you up and, if you are listening, will begin to instruct you.  I can say that when I read a chapter in my Bible every morning I cannot wait to see what the Lord points out to me.  For me, I will be reading and a verse or a couple verses will pop out. As I read on, the rest of chapter seems stale and the words don’t jump off the page.  At this point, I know the Lord has wakened my senses to that verse. 

Sometimes I am like, really that verse?  What is it about that verse; but as I write, the words pour out and the Holy Spirit teaches me something.  Some of you need to stop and know that the Lord really is trying to speak to you but you are in a daze of confusion as to how to listen.  While I was in college, some classes just seemed so blah I found myself mentally going somewhere else only to snap back into it and realize the whole class was over and what I had written down seemed like another language. 

We have all seen the kid that just does not pay attention in class no matter how many times the teacher redirects his focus.  I think you are starting to get the picture.  Let’s break it down.  You are in school, in class, book open, around others who are doing the same thing, writing down things and you seem to be the only one who is not focused.  You get done with class, go home, and realize your homework seems like it is in Greek and get discouraged. Then you spend the next two hours attempting to learn the lesson but realizing you just cannot seem to grasp it.  Now you get the picture?

We go through life in the same manner with the Lord and wonder why we sit in discouragement over life’s struggles.  Today, make a conscious decision to start listening to the Lord as one that is being instructed.  Just like in school, the teacher never left the class, you just did not pay attention.  The Lord has a text book for life, it is called the Bible.  In it, you will find instructions for life and even examples of people using those instructions as well as people who chose to ignore those instructions.  Make a plan to engage no matter what every day! You might find yourself starting to make A’s in life instead of flunking at it.

Prayer: Father, I pray that when I am feeling like the stupid kid in game of life, I pray that I would gleam instruction and encouragement from your Word. Too often, we just have a pity party for me, myself, and I and we never seem to learn the lesson. I pray the joy of the Lord is my strength and every day dive into the Word of God like a starving man dives into food. In Jesus name, amen.