Followby Dan Amos
If you choose to read this, you will get a glimpse in to the odd ways my mind works. I doubt you’ll find anything profound, but when things happen in my life, I tend to relate them to something else. Often I find myself learning a lesson of application of the things I’ve learned over the years about what God has revealed to us. The little vignettes of my life become object lessons that I ought to apply.
I recently returned to getting up and getting ready to leave for the day before everyone else in the house gets up. After I get dressed, I stop all movement, control my breathing and whisper “bye.” This is so I can be sure I don’t drown out my whisper with rustling, but even more to hear the faint reply if there is one. I was told on Monday to not bother with the whisper, just kiss her and she’ll go back to sleep. But, doesn’t that sound like what we have to do to hear God talking to us? All the noise and busyness of life makes it difficult to distinguish His voice when he is trying to communicate His love for us.
My new job was advertised needing knowledge of a database that I was sure I was one of the best in the company with. When I started, I found out there were parts of it I didn’t know existed. I am learning to use that part of it, but I had no idea it was even there. It reminded me of Paul’s lament that the more mature he became in his faith, the more he considered himself the greatest of sinners. That thought has never made more sense to me than now.
Last Saturday, Mark McCullough and I were winning at Hand and Foot over Fran and Barb. (There you go Mark, it’s on the Internet now, so it must be true!) I was laughing and joking and Barb commented that she could see the stress of the last year was not evident that night to which I quipped I didn’t realize I internalized so much! But, this was an eye-opening statement for me and it really hit home the next morning listening to Keith Ferrin speaking on Philippians. If I was filled with so much stress over our predicament, was I really conducting myself in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ?
Lastly, there were a number of young and young-ish (!) men walking around the icy parking lot Sunday morning. We were trying to meet people as they got out of their cars and show them the paths we knew from our experience would get them into the church safely. In some instances we would say, “Follow me, walk in my footsteps because it is safe.” Again, we heard the same message from Paul in Philippians who told them he knew the way to Christ and he was leading them surely to His safety. Just like in response to the Gospel, some in the parking lot listened, some did not, and some insisted on following their own path, dangerously skirting risky areas.
So those are a few snapshots in to my thought processes. Maybe God teaches you in similar ways. If you have kids and ever disciplined them and heard the words coming out of your mouth sounding exactly like what God would be telling you, then you know what I’m talking about.
Oh, and about the kiss … when you know the right thing to do because you’ve already been told, quit asking if you should do it. Just do it.
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