Stop, Look and Listen

by Peggy Brown

So…here it is - my lesson for the year. Are you ready for this? I am NOT God!!! As much as I wish that I could be at times, the sad fact is I’m not. (Maybe it’s not so sad, hm?)

This fact rose up and smacked me in the face the other day when one of my kids needed my help and there was nothing that I could do about it. I couldn’t provide anything but advice and even that wasn’t too useful. What I wanted to do was get in my car and go running to my child’s aid. The most frustrating part was that all I could do was wait, and pray.

When my kids were little, it was so easy to fix a Boo Boo or dry tears. It was so comforting to be able to be the solver of problems and dispenser of wisdom. You know, for their first 18 years (or maybe 5, I have kinda blocked out those teenage times!) it was so tempting to be lulled into a false sense of control. It was easy to lose track of the fact that I was NEVER really in control.

I can see that God used this little incident to put a big STOP sign right in front of me! “Stop and think about Who I am.” “Stop and remember Who your children belong to ultimately.” “Stop and remember that you gave Me these children years ago.” “Stop and consider the life lessons that I want to teach this child. Lessons about trust, prayer, My faithfulness…” “Stop and consider the life lessons I want to teach you!”

As I was waiting, God focused my heart to look at my response. My first response wasn’t to pray it was to act. It wasn’t until I was helpless to act that I began to pray. I had come to the end of my own self and realized that I could only pray. As if that’s a small thing!

When I began to pray was when I began to listen. All of the “tapes” of the lessons I have learned from and about God began to play in my heart. I listened to the Holy Spirit reminding me that God is in control of every detail of my family’s life whether I can reach them or not, and I listened as He spoke to me through my husband’s questions and counsel.

I am so thankful that God uses every circumstance of my life to focus my heart on Him. Sometimes it takes me a while to get the focus adjusted so that it’s not blurry, but once the focus becomes clear, there is such peace. The sermon Sunday about how Jesus, the shepherd of His people, cares for our very lives, served as another opportunity to focus my heart on God’s control of every detail. Thanks Lord for your patient reminders.

Phil. 4:6-7 (New Living Translation) “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need , and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His eace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Since this is my last post before Christmas, I am wishing each one of you the blessings of a Christ-focused Christmas.

With love,
Peggy