The question this morning was, "What blocks you from hearing God's voice?
It dawned on me that the clutter of my life-my house-my body stand in the way of my listening and hearing. The mess around me and the body image that I carry with me keep my focus here...on myself...selfishly...disallowing my thoughts to be focused on God. This is a frightening confession because it requires action.
I wonder if this strikes a chord with anyone? Does this ring as truth? If you stop and give this thought some time...what have you built into your life that keeps you from hearing God's voice? Do you see it as selfishness or helplessness? Could it be that holding one to the things you despise most about yourself is actually an act of selfishness instead simply a weakness or character flaw? Do we purposely, yet subconsciously, hold on to circumstances, surroundings, thoughts, images, beliefs or weaknesses in order to isolate ourselves from God's voice? To play God...
I believe that often we are the biggest road block in our relationship with God. Is the fear of action greater than the desire for acceptance... Is the fear of failure greater than the hope of living in Truth...of knowing who we are as God's daughters?
4 comments:
these are great thoughts! I have found that the clutter in my house definitely affects me and my life. Cornbread and I have a huge desire to live simply - and I feel that we do for the most part - but so much STUFF has built up in the last 10 years and it clutters the crawl space and any other storage spaces... which clutters my thoughts and my life. Over the last year I have been decluttering. Purging. Trying to hold onto only that which we need - not stuff that we *May* need some time in the future. It has done wonders for my soul and ultimately in my relationship with God. I know that sounds weird, but it all seems to be a cycle - My brain = less cluttered = more space for God and more energy to be intentional about living with HIM rather than all of this stuff. I'm still working on the body image aspect of it all and hoping that the same will happen.
Are you discussing this in a bible study? What book are you reading?
PS - did you know that there are some new studies/books out that theorize that clutter in our houses causes us to be fat? Interesting idea.
Hey I just got a copy of this book and am waiting for my workbook to come in the mail. I'm really looking forward to working through it. Are you finished with it?
I haven't been over for a while...you've gone green! Very stylish, although I loved your other color scheme, too:)
So, about that clutter theory...very interesting thing happened when I gave up my freelance PR work for the park district to focus on Writing4Him, which is where I feel God has been leading me over the past 18 months...suddenly, my house is cleaner, my laundry is getting done, I'm drinking more water, I'm losing weight slowly but surely, I don't feel like I'm losing my patience with my kids as much...and the best part is I spend the better part of my days Writing4Him. The only way to describe it is that I feel free!
Terrified, yes, that, too. It was hard to give up that regular chunk of money coming in every month. Sad, yup, that, too. I really loved what I did for the Park and the circumstances that dictated my departure were hurtful. Fearful, yes, even that to a degree. I'm not sure where this new path is going to lead. I'm sure I'm not going to get book contract after book contract so there is sure to be more frustration and growth experiences ahead. But decluttering my life so I could hear God's voice...priceless!
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