I fully understand that every family has their own ways of discipline. In our home, when you disobey, you get a time out. Sometimes when they’re in a time out they kick, yell, beg, cry, but we do not give their actions attention. The reason they act out is because they want to be in control, they want to be heard. If I tried to talk them out of a fit or give any attention to their behavior, it would show them that what they are doing is in fact getting my attention and that they do have some control of the situation. I have found that before the time out is over he/she has usually calmed themselves down and is ready to listen and learn to change what got he/she there in the first place. Once we’ve talked about the problem, they apologize, we give hugs and kisses, and move on about our day.
I have realized that God uses this same form of teaching at times. I feel like He has had me in a personal time out. For some time now God has been moving mountains for me and I have been cooperating (reluctantly at times, but cooperating) but for a few days it seemed like I was asking God where He is and why we stopped moving. The thing was- I noticed this but had no idea why. I had nothing happen to make me sad or angry, not PMSing, no excuses I could muster up...just felt BLAH.
“I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God” Ezekiel 11:19-20. God has given us a softened heart of flesh that is able to hear His voice but if we are disobedient for too long our hearts will begin to harden. Spending regular time in His presence will allow Him to soften our hearts and when this occurs we are better able to hear His voice and obey Him. This opened my eyes to the problem I've been unaware that I was having. For a few weeks now I have felt a small (small is important here because sometimes when God moves, it's completely apparent...this time it was more of a small nudge)...a small nudge to change something. I have not been too keen on this idea because, to be honest, it wasn’t convenient for me. Point being - I have been disobeying God. He has been faithful in teaching me and guiding me and much has changed but now He is requiring more, a different way of doing things. I realized that although I've been doing what I thought I should do, HE had asked me to make a change and I wasn't cooperating, so the other “right” things were no longer blessed because I was not following His will for ME. The longer I disobeyed, the more my heart was hardening to His voice and the more I was un-consciencely giving Satan.
When we disobey, God silences Himself and patiently waits for us to be ready to listen to Him. It is then that we need to silence ourselves before Him and listen for His instruction. If God seems silent, there is a reason, we need to stop kicking, yelling, begging and trying to get His attention and just be silent. Once God opens our eyes to the problem, all He asks is that we ask for His forgiveness. After that, we can move on, learn from our mistakes and live in His favor.
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