In the beginning, God... It's a good thing He didn't rest on Tuesday!!!!!! Neither do we! Time for the Notes!!!
Have you ever been in one of those gut-wrenching situations where it seems that the only thing you can do is pray? Perhaps you have had a friend or loved one that is seriously ill or rejects the truth on which they were raised. Your concern causes you to start getting callouses on your knees from time spent on them in prayer begging for a resolution to the situation. What do you do when you keep seeking a response from God and there appears to be "No Reply At All"?
The Notes admits to a positive bias when it comes to the British band that has the same name as the first book of the Bible. Their music has always been unique, and in the early days, extremely theatrical. Since 1967, Genesis has been entertaining a large contingency of fans with that combination of theatrics and musicality. In recent years, they have had one of the most successful reunion tours of what seems to be a growing group of aging rock bands. The height of Genesis' success came in the '80s when in a 10-year span they saw 4 studio and 1 live album go top 10.
The beginning of this decade of success came with 1981's Abacab, where 3 of the songs went into the top 40. Reaching as high as #29 on the U.S. charts was "No Reply At All", a song about miscommunication in relationships. With backup from Earth, Wind, and Fire's horn section, here is "No Reply At All".......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Has there ever been a time when you thought God wasn't listening to you? Did you desire a 1-on-1 with Him? The Bible portrays the variety with which God speaks with man. His conduits of communication included angelic messengers, prophets and priests, and even a donkey. God speaks directly to mankind in the Bible as well and while in the long term, God's message was always beneficial to someone, in the short term it wasn't usually what we consider good for the person to which God was speaking. Moses gained the responsibility of an entire nation, Joshua was given the commission to conquer existing nations, Hosea was told to marry a prostitute, and Isaiah was told to go naked for 3 years. Given these examples, it is plain to see that speaking to God directly will have its consequences. Does this mean we shouldn't seek God?
Just as God used a variety of ways to speak to His children in the Bible, so He does today. We have to be aware of the particular ways that God articulates himself. That kind word from a stranger, a song on the radio at just the right time, an "I'm thinking of you", text or email from a friend, can all be ways that God communicates with us and ways He can use us to communicate with others if we will listen. Jesus is the example of how our correspondence with God is a two-way street. He tells us our responsibilities with regard to relationship building with God. In Matthew 6, the instructions and motivations are laid out plainly. Take a minute and read The Message paraphrase of that chapter here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/
As Jesus concludes this instructional time with His disciples, notice the promise that He provides:
34"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. (The Message)
This is a great passage of comfort for those times of struggle, but we have a responsibility to talk to God in the good times as well. We also have a responsibility to listen. If you get a chance, read the lyrics to "No Reply At All". And think about God being the one saying them to His church. You can find them here:
http://www.lyricsmode.com/
Sadly, this seems to be the one-ended conversation that God is having with His church at times. One of the reasons God sent the Holy Spirit for us is to be an aqueduct of communication to and from God. Unfortunately in too many churches and denominations the power of Holy Spirit is rarely used if even acknowledged. Perhaps if we did visit with God through the Holy Spirit more during the good times, there wouldn't be as many times where we said....."Is anybody listenin'.....oh oh oh .....No Reply At All"
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy
No comments:
Post a Comment