Matthew 2:8 “Herod sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
What this verse says to me is that sometimes God’s directing comes through the most unlikely source.
It is easy for us to listen for God’s voice only from sources we know. This often means listening only to those people who think like we do, belong to our social circles, or speak and act like us. This may mean we never pay attention to others who would take a different position from us. It becomes easy to believe that God is telling us exactly what we already thought. Leaders often reinforce this by surrounding themselves with a narrow band of like-minded deputies and advisors.
But by God’s grace, could we somehow learn to listen to what God might be saying to us, even through people we don’t trust or sources we don’t agree with?
Once there was a man who dared God to speak.
Burn the bush like you did for Moses, God.
And I will follow.
Collapse the walls like you did for Joshua, God.
And I will fight.
Still the waves like you did on Galilee, God.
And I will listen.
And so the man sat by a bush, near a wall,
close to the sea and waited for God to speak.
And God heard the man, so God answered.
He sent fire, not for a bush, but for a church.
He brought down a wall, not of brick, but of sin.
He stilled the storm, not of the sea, but of a soul.
And God waited for man to respond.
And he waited. . .
And he waited. . .
And waited.
But because the man was looking at bushes,
not hearts; bricks and not lives, seas and not souls,
he decided that God had done nothing.
Finally he looked to God and asked,
‘Have you lost your power?’
And God looked at him and said,
‘Have you lost your hearing?’
Almighty God,
Your Spirit swept over the waters of creation;
You are sweeping over us now, creating something new.
Call us away from the distractions of the world
to experience what You are doing now, in us,
and through us,
and in our world.
Open us to a new awakening, a new beginning,
where we look through the lens of the goodness of Your creation,
experiencing all possibilities in You.
Turn us away from the negative lens,
and lead us to the light.
In the name of Jesus, who leads us into life, we pray. Amen.
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