I think there's a god. I think (& hope) he's good & cares about us.
But I have heaps of questions. Over the next few instalments I'm going to share some of my questions, & would love to hear any thoughts or questions you have.
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Here's #1:
If God speaks to us, then why is it so hard to hear him?
There's been many a time when I've had questions for God, & he makes me work through it myself - no cheat sheets provided.
Some say: 'you live such busy a life that when God speaks you can't hear him. That's why you need to set aside a time for God each day.'
Well I call bullshit. If I went to talk to a builder & he was using some electrical tool that was really loud, I wouldn't just start talking away then blame him when he doesn't hear me. I wait until he stops, then when I have his attention I talk.
Why does God insist on talking while I'm using electrical tools? It's not like I do it 24/7.
And I refuse to beat myself up about it & blame it all on my evilness.
"But God communicates in many ways, not just audibly" I hear my friend say.
Well imagine if I stopped talking to my wife & only communicated in 'other' ways. Should she blame herself because she can't tell what my interpretive dance from 3 rooms away means?
No. God knows where I am. He knows how a human communicates & I'm sure he's capable of working within our constraints.
If my rabbit chews an electrical chord, I don't call a family conference to chat about his behaviour. He doesn't understand English & he'd hop away - not because he's evil & won't take responsibility for his actions. It's just cause he doesn't get what the hell we're doing.
I am not a god. The more intelligent being is responsible for communicating in a way that makes sense for us stupid humans.
If my rabbit chews an electrical chord, I don't call a family conference to chat about his behaviour. He doesn't understand English & he'd hop away - not because he's evil & won't take responsibility for his actions. It's just cause he doesn't get what the hell we're doing.
I am not a god. The more intelligent being is responsible for communicating in a way that makes sense for us stupid humans.
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I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday. He's a pastor of a church in Launceston & is kind of a full on Christian - talking about spiritual battles & how the devil is out to get us & whatnot. But he kept saying how we need to be discerning what God is saying to us, & if we don't listen, after a time God will stop talking.
He will? God gets so pissed off with us stupid rabbits that he throws his hands in the air & storms out of the room?
Couldn't God at least loop some pre-recorded message that we could tune into if he is sick of talking - you know, like the ones they put on in apocalyptic movies like I Am Legend or 28 Days Later (not to be confused with the Sandra Bullock movie 28 Days).
And how does God work out when to stop? Does he have a stopwatch counting down, & when it hits zero he goes back to watching Deal or No Deal?
I don't actively try not to hear God. I'd love to hear from him! What am I meant to be doing with my life? What happens after we die? Should I be worried? Where is the nearest parking spot?
I'm ready whenever you are God.
It's a question I have too cos God doesn't seem to speak to me or I don't listen. I don't talk to God much either though I value those who do, I trust that God knows me and knows what I care about and doesn't need reminders from me.
ReplyDeleteI try not to listen for a voice outside myself, If God is in me then I really only need to focus inwards. It's a weird one though; supposing I was created for a purpose, why then can't I supplied with a to do list so that I can fulfill that purpose? Maybe there isn't a specific to do list, we are not controlled so in that case the purpose might be simply to live out particular values and to use our skills as best we can in doing that.
I don't know if I am ready to hear God but I refuse to beat myself about it. I'll just focus inwards when I'm not too distracted and try to discern what my purpose is moment to moment according to what I think and feel that God thinks and feels is important. To me, for now, that's listening to God.
I like that idea of focussing inwards very much, makes a lot of sense to me. And for me this raises the issue of when is it God & when is it my own consciousness.
ReplyDeleteI was talking to my mum last night about this & she says she has things that she calls incredible coincidences that she attributes to God. She reeled off 5 or 6 examples from the last 30 years of her life that was God speaking to her.
I agree with your idea of not beating yourself up over it. I always want to recognise my limits, while also acknowledging God's lack of limits, & accept that if he really wants to communicate with me, he knows how to.
The frustrating thing for me is that I have heaps of questions & he chooses not to answer.
I also believe we are better able to serve eachother in answering the questions we have than by doing it on our own...you know the...together we have the mind of christ and where two or more are gathered I am there and all that.
ReplyDeleteMy question is how is it when we gather like that can so many get it so incredibly wrong at times, relying on their own consciousness, ignoring their own fallibility and attributing it to God. I reckon we always need to be doubtful and humble before we embark on trusting that we are doing God's work. It's those that are certain that scare me.
Yep, the more certain someone is of their beliefs, the more scary they are to me. Questions & doubt are good things.
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