Listen for the whisper.

After Elijah’s God publicly defeated the false prophets of Baal, Elijah ran away to escape the wrath of evil Queen Jezebel who’d threatened to kill him.  When he stopped, he asked the Lord to take his life because he felt lonely and exhausted.  An angel gave him food, water, and he slept.  Each time he woke up, he ate, drank, and rested.

Then I Kings 19: 11-13 reports this:

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him…

I wonder how many times I’ve missed God’s voice because I expected to hear it in something exciting like the wind, earthquake or fire, rather than in a quiet whisper.  Our lives can get so noisy and chaotic which can make it hard to hear the quiet whisper.  How often have we assumed that God wasn’t speaking to us because we couldn’t hear His quiet whisper?

In Psalm 46:10, God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.
                                             I am exalted among the nations,
                                             I am exalted in the earth!”

Maybe if we didn’t pay so much attention to the wind, earthquake or fire (the exciting things) in our lives, we would be more open to hearing God’s quiet whisper.  Can we be still long enough to hear God’s quiet whisper?  If so, life could be very different.  Why not find a place where you can be quiet and still, while listening for God’s whisper?

Learning from Loss or Victory

Competition is a big part of our lives.  We compete for jobs.  We cheer for our favorite team to win.  Businesses compete for customers.  We usually feel discouraged after a loss, or uplifted after a win. 

Most of us would agree that it matters how one plays the game.  We believe one should play by the rules.  In football, it’s unethical to hit your opponent after the whistle ends the play.  In business, we’re honest about the product quality or services we offer.  In school, students get rewarded for doing excellent work, but punished for cheating.

I believe that we can learn from winning or losing.  When we win regularly over a season, we’re tempted to become overconfident or cocky; these are symptoms of pride.  When we lose too often, we’re tempted to blame the officials or someone else for our inadequacy; the problem with this evading personal responsibility is that it means missing an opportunity to learn from our mistakes.

One respected coach tries to take “an even keel” with his team.  He avoids getting too high after a big win or too low after a disappointing loss.  He believes that we’re not as good as our most recent win or as bad as our latest loss.

A wise, older person once said that over the long run, life has a way of evening things out.  The proud are brought down and humbled.  The lowly person is lifted up and encouraged.  Luke 1: 51-53 says,

The Lord “has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.”

May we learn to let God teach us humility through our losses and encouragement through our wins. 

A Prayer by St. Francis of Assisi

You are holy, Lord, the only God, and your deeds are wonderful.
You are strong, you are great, you are the most high, you are almighty.
You, Holy Father, are King of Heaven and Earth.
You are Three and One, all good.
You are good, all supreme good, Lord God, living and true.
You are love, you are wisdom.  You are humility, you are endurance.
You are rest, you are peace.
You are joy and gladness, you are justice and moderation.
You are all our riches, and you suffice for us.
You are beauty, you are gentleness.
You are our protector, you are our guardian and our defender.
You are courage, you are our haven and hope.
You are our faith, our great consolation.
You are eternal life, great and wonderful Lord,
God almighty, merciful Savior.

by St. Francis of Assisi
-from Jesus, Be the Center, by Rev. Eunice McGarrahan
This is a great descriptions of God.

Accepting Pain in Our Lives

May 10 is Fibromyalgia Awareness Day.  I've lived with fibromyalgia pain for about 15 years now, since I was a young Dad in my late 30s.  Like everyone with chronic pain, I've spent much time, money, & energy in trying to get rid of or reduce my pain.  But for some reason, God continues to allow it in my body.  As a friend once said to me, maybe it's my cross to bear.

I gradually had to come to accept my pain, as it comes every day and night.  The thing is, I've learned from this physical pain, and in a few unexpected ways, God's actually blessed me through it.  The most basic thing I've learned from it is humility.  I had some success in my younger years, and without my pain, I may have become proud, a guy with an ego problem.

When the apostle Paul wrote about his thorn in the flesh, he wrote, Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12: 8-9). 
God has used my pain to keep me humble and to help me emphasize and sympathize with others who live with chronic pain.  Studies say that a third to half of the people in our lives, live with some kind of chronic pain.  Thus it seems like God's used my pain to make me a better, more caring person.

If you know someone with chronic pain, ask how you can help him/her in their daily life, and be prepared to listen and help.  Be careful about saying things like, "God will heal you," or "if you did this or than, you'd be better off."  Words like those can cause more damage than help.  Praying for someone with pain is great, but realize you might not understand how God's using pain in that person's life, or whether God desires to heal her/him.  Be a servant-friend to that person; that would be a way to truly love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus Himself suffered severe agony and pain in the 24 hours leading up to his death on the cross.  Let us follow the Master by accepting pain in our lives and letting God use it to teach us.