Hi Rachel I love your "nudges" piece. You are very good with expressing words. I am finding that God is nudging me to visit with people to just sit and listen. I never realized just how important this is for them. I always felt visiting was a waste of my time but I'm realizing God wants to use me in this way. So much so that people I have met seem to want to keep in contact with me. I've never had that before. A friend from 15yrs ago phones me out of the blue, another texts me because she's missed seeing me etc etc . I feel God is saying I want you to be a friend.
I think it's our Western thinking that when someone opens up to us that we have to always have something to say or a solution to share. But in other cultures just sitting and listening is enough. In fact it is valuable for the other person to be heard. I have a friend who when I take my turn to share in the conversation starts yawning - it happens on a regularl basis - and it makes me feel that nothing in my life or what I want to share has any worth to her and that I should shut up. That is quite a distressing place to be. All humans want to feel like what they say and think has some worth and is valuable enough to be listened to. I think listening is healing to a person.
I so enjoyed your post today. You challenged me, and encouraged me at the same time. I tend to beat myself up when I miss what I call divine encounters, instead of letting it be instructive for the future. I ask the Lord to forgive me and ask Him not to give up on me, and help me to be more obedient when He calls me. The hold on me from the flesh, the world, and the evil one is stronger on me than it should be! The rewards of answering the call are so, so rewarding that I wonder why I struggle at all, and...yet, sadly, I do. I praise God that He is so gracious, and kind, and compassionate to me!
Hey Sandra - thanks for taking the time to share. I hear your heart - we all want to have divine encounters but life gets in the way doesn't it? No need to beat yourself up --- I don't think God wants us to do that either --- he is just consistently gracious and always inviting us into something more beautiful each day. He is so patient with me and will wait years until I am ready to move one step further in the process. Nothing we go through is wasted. I used to think that parts of my life were wasted years - but God has been tenderly showing me that nothing is wasted - he makes beauty from ashes. It's okay to take one day or even one moment at a time. God just loves being present in you. That never changes. We get to learn how to be aware of him and how to enjoy him. That's eternal life. Sounds like better news than I was taught in church really. Every day it's getting better and better.
Hi Rachel I love your "nudges" piece. You are very good with expressing words. I am finding that God is nudging me to visit with people to just sit and listen. I never realized just how important this is for them. I always felt visiting was a waste of my time but I'm realizing God wants to use me in this way. So much so that people I have met seem to want to keep in contact with me. I've never had that before. A friend from 15yrs ago phones me out of the blue, another texts me because she's missed seeing me etc etc . I feel God is saying I want you to be a friend.
I think it's our Western thinking that when someone opens up to us that we have to always have something to say or a solution to share. But in other cultures just sitting and listening is enough. In fact it is valuable for the other person to be heard. I have a friend who when I take my turn to share in the conversation starts yawning - it happens on a regularl basis - and it makes me feel that nothing in my life or what I want to share has any worth to her and that I should shut up. That is quite a distressing place to be. All humans want to feel like what they say and think has some worth and is valuable enough to be listened to. I think listening is healing to a person.
Rachel,
I so enjoyed your post today. You challenged me, and encouraged me at the same time. I tend to beat myself up when I miss what I call divine encounters, instead of letting it be instructive for the future. I ask the Lord to forgive me and ask Him not to give up on me, and help me to be more obedient when He calls me. The hold on me from the flesh, the world, and the evil one is stronger on me than it should be! The rewards of answering the call are so, so rewarding that I wonder why I struggle at all, and...yet, sadly, I do. I praise God that He is so gracious, and kind, and compassionate to me!
Hey Sandra - thanks for taking the time to share. I hear your heart - we all want to have divine encounters but life gets in the way doesn't it? No need to beat yourself up --- I don't think God wants us to do that either --- he is just consistently gracious and always inviting us into something more beautiful each day. He is so patient with me and will wait years until I am ready to move one step further in the process. Nothing we go through is wasted. I used to think that parts of my life were wasted years - but God has been tenderly showing me that nothing is wasted - he makes beauty from ashes. It's okay to take one day or even one moment at a time. God just loves being present in you. That never changes. We get to learn how to be aware of him and how to enjoy him. That's eternal life. Sounds like better news than I was taught in church really. Every day it's getting better and better.
You know, God is so loving, all the time, that if we miss the nudge first time around, he would keep bringing them back around to enjoy.
Love this :-)