Stop the Noise and Just Listen

My family went camping again over the fathers day weekend with 3 other families. That means there were 11 kids all under 10 years old. It was an amazingly fun time! And a miracle that all the kids got along! LOL!

There are so many wonderful things about camping, but what I really love is getting away and into God's creation. There is somthing about sitting in the midle of a quiet lake in a canoe and just listening to the sounds of nature... the wind in the trees, the water, the birds... that brings out the calm in me.

We  are so connected to our things. Our phones, our laptops, our cars and hair dryers that it can be difficult to just be quiet. It takes a real effort to find that quiet these days away from everything we come to depend on. 

But that's just it isn't it. We depend on them. What would we do if all electronics stopped. If cars no longer ran. What would we do with ourselves? Those things are great tools, but I fear that we as a society become so attached to them that we are easily distracted by their instant entertainment gratification and we forget to stop and just listen.

...Listen to the words Jesus spoke... listen to the sounds HE created on this earth... listen to the whisper of the Holy Spirit in our hearts telling us what is right, giving us courage to move forward in our purpose. Do we really listen ever?

The bible talks about Jesus often going off to lonely places to pray. He modeled what we should be doing. I want to encourage you today to actively seek to be alone and quiet with your savior and then really listen to him. What he has to say to each of us is so beautiful, it renews us, and sets us in line to fulfill that purpose he has for us today.