I have always loved the Bible verse, “Be still and know that I am God.” Yet, how rarely do I practice it! We all get so busy with life that too often we run around the maze without thinking about where we are really going and why. I have been blessed to be on the National Advisory Cabinet for Guideposts and recently heard a thought-provoking talk by Rev. Paul Everett, who is married to Maggie Peale, Norman Vincent Peale’s daughter. It was titled “The Divine Nudge” and was about how many times God brings people into our thoughts and yet so often we fail to take time to listen and act on those “nudges.” We are just too busy! And because of that, we miss precious times of ministering and sharing and growing. The same is true for “listening” about the direction of our lives.
He quoted from the works of Henri Nowen, one of my favorite Christian writers:
“…Activities that can give us our routines and our security can also block out the ‘voice’ of correction and change…..we should be still – still in order to evaluate and hear. Thus a far greater challenge is not to DO, but to BE in the pace where we can hear; not hear the old and familiar, but to hear again what God thinks about our life’s direction, priorities, and activities, and to hear again what our heart is saying. This is often difficult for us. It is a struggle.
Yet hear new things we must! For we cannot simply continue to plunge headlong into the incessant round of activities that are no longer part of God’s creation for our lives and that no longer express our creativity and our central concerns.”
I have been thinking a lot about this concept recently. Each year I choose a theme for my year, and this year I chose “Rebuilding Relationships.” It is amazing to me how, when I AM listening, God has opened so many doors for me, out of my routine, to do just that. He has brought people from my past back into contact with me, He has given me extra time at home to schedule special sharing time with people I care about or want to know better, and He has provided work trips that will allow me to see people I love all over the country this year. Best of all, He has helped me give myself permission to have fun, too!
I have listened and made some changes in my life — I joined the Healthplex associated with the hospital here and am working out three times a week. (I have always walked on the beach and swum a mile in the pool when I was in town, but now I have something I can do even on the road, and I love that it is all computerized, so I can SEE my progress!) I have started sorting through papers and clothes and all those things that take up space in our lives. And most of all, I have taken a new attitude toward my work. Although I have a deep sense of mission about what I am doing, I have finally listened to the message that I do not have to do everything for everyone, and I do not have to work 18 hours a day when I am home.
I AM listening. Are you?????
Blessings,
Barbara
To learn more about Barbara’s work go to www.barbaraglanz.com.
