At the botanical gardens – quietness enters my soul. Without the external hustle of this world, God’s Word comes more easily. Listening.
This morning I was reading a passage from the Psalms. I like to read a different translation from time to time. Sometimes it gives me a new perspective on a topic. The passage was Psalms 81:8 – 16 in the Smith and Goodspeed translation.
“Listen, O my people, while I warn you; if you would but listen to me, O Israel! There would be no strange god among you; nor would you bow down to a foreign god. I, the LORD, am your God; he who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open wide your mouth that I may fill it. But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would have none of me. So I gave them over to their own self-will, that they might follow their own devices. If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would only walk in my ways, I would quickly humble their foes, and turn my hand against their enemies. Those who hate the LORD would fawn upon him, and terror would be upon them forever; but he would be fed with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock would I satisfy you.”
Self will or God’s will? It’s either one or the other. They both cannot exist in the same space. These two wills are constantly at odds.
It has to be a deliberate choice to stop the self plans and let God lay out his plans. To get God’s view for this moment or this day or this life, I have to lay aside my self-will. Forget about it. Let it go. See what God has in mind. Let’s make a deal. Self will is only going to get us in trouble anyway. Let’s really listen.
Listening naturally to the world around us, we surrender our own thoughts to hear the sound of birds chirping, little bees buzzing and light breezes passing through. Such wonderful music for our ears! Listening spiritually to our Father, we surrender our own will to hear what he has to say. A reverential symphony for our soul!
We are surrounded by choices from sunup to sunset. Just to get out of bed is the first choice of our day. As soon as we choose to do it, we are faced with more choices: we choose what clothes we are going to wear, what we’re going to eat for breakfast, what we’re going to read while we eat that breakfast and what we listen to as we drive to work. We do all that even before the official start of the day (for some, the day only officially starts after the first cup of coffee!).
