Posts Tagged ‘listen to God’

Bouncing Questions off the walls of my Brain

August 15th, 2008

Wow. I feel like I went from really having nothing to write about a few hours ago to having TONS of thoughts bouncing around my head all of a sudden for no apparent real reason. I really want to write about all of these thoughts, but I can’t really figure out how to write about them right now… hum… Guess I really am tired. Well, maybe for now I’ll just list out a few general things I’m thinking about for later reference…

-          Listening to God – I’ve experienced this in little ways lately and have been thinking about it a lot. What does it really mean to listen to God and what does it look like in our day to day lives?

-          What does it really mean to listen to another human being and really understand what they are trying to say (not what you think they are trying to say but what they are really trying to say)?

-          When you get better at listening to your own heart does it get easier or harder to listen to other people’s hearts?

-          How do you handle times when you are listening to someone and really understanding them and what they are saying really makes sense and you can understand how they would see it that way, but it is so different from your own experience and so different from your own believes and maybe even conflicts with your own hurts? How do you listen to them and validate them while also being genuine and validating to your own story/believes/hurts?

-          Is it always important to get feelings you feel or hurts you experience or ideas/believes you have out in the open? Or is it sometimes beneficial to keep something to yourself or even hid it so as not to hurt someone or cause conflict?

-          How do you really listen to someone when what they are expressing a desire for is something that you don’t want to happen and even fear happening?

Yeah, all these questions/thoughts keep bouncing around my head. Any one of them could probably be a post in and of itself or I probably could have integrated them into one post that was much more coherent then this. But, it’s late. I’m tired. My head is too full with the questions to actually be able to piece them apart into a coherent blog, and so for now you get to just have a little glimpse into my crazy brain.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Conversations with God: Rest Child

June 27th, 2008

I hear God whispering questions to my soul…

God: “Are you going to listen to me or are you going to listen to your circumstances. Are you going to follow me or are you just going to to give up? Are you going to let me walk you through the desert or are you going to run back to Egypt? Are you going to let me spin my cocoon of change around you or are you going to fight to remain a caterpillar? Will you follow me, Bethany, even when the way is unclear and everything seems to be upside down? Will you follow me into my upside down kingdom?”

Me: “Lord, I want to follow you, but the way is unclear and the path uncertain… and I’m scared.  I don’t want to give up… I won’t give up. I won’t just run back to the easy road. I won’t return to Egypt… but, Lord, could you just tell me where to go instead? Would you tell me what to do next?”

God: “Rest. Stop doing. Just be. I will lead you and I will tell you what you need to know when you need to know it. For now, just be. Be the beautiful, creative, intelligent woman I made you to be, Bethany.”

Me: “But, Lord, I don’t FEEL beautiful, creative or intelligent – I feel awkward most of the time.”

God: “Bethany, it’s not about feeling, it’s about truth. Let me speak my truth about you.”

Me: “But, even if I did believe what you say about me… I wouldn’t know where to bring my beauty, creativity, or intellect – what should I do with the gifts you’ve given me? Where do I fit? What are you calling me to?…”

God: (Interrupting)”… Shhhh. Quiet, my dear child. Be still. You do not have to have all the answers. You do not have to know what to do right now. Just do the small things that I place in front of you. Follow me. Listen to me. Rest in me. And slowly I’ll take you where I want you to go.”

Me: “… Here, I am…Speak, Lord, for your servant listens…”

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

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