Easy access to e-mail, the internet, facebook, phones with texting, tweeting, photo-sharing, and probably a host of other things I'm not familiar with makes today's culture boredom-free.
It also gives followers of Jesus an extra challenge in our daily walk: hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. How in the world are we to learn, to train ourselves to listen for His prompting when we constantly have an instant answer to everything at our fingertips? (And have you noticed that today pretty much everything is newsworthy?)
We can find out nearly anything we're wondering about, contact anyone no matter where they are, see whomever we want to see via video or a sent picture, entertain ourselves with games, check up on other's lives as they post moment-by-moment tidbits. And the list goes on. (And have you noticed that today pretty much everything is newsworthy?)
It is possible to fill our lives to such a capacity that we don't even give a thought to the Holy Spirit, let alone quiet ourselves to listen to what He might have to say. When we have a moment to breathe in our busy schedules, we just pull out our phones.
We have become constantly impatient; text messaging allows us to receive a reply almost instantly. We have no patience for waiting for the Holy Spirit, and we have filled our God-given yearning for Him with artificial means - much like I pacify my 4-month-old with a plastic plug.
So let me encourage all of you to quiet your hearts before Him, renew your minds, and re-sensitize your spirit. And when you're waiting for that still, small voice, don't give into the temptation to reach for those phones to check up on the latest. Fill your mind instead with God's IM - His Word.
Have patience. Have patience. Don't be in such a hurry....
*Snails can hibernate for up to 3 years inside their shells! Now that's patience! They also need moisture to survive. I'm reminded of Jesus, who gives us living water so that we won't get thirsty and have to keep going to the well in the middle of town.
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