Ok, so I was so filled up at She Speaks that I am just now getting to a place that I can put it all into words. I'm going to start today by sharing the message I shared with my evaluation group (a big thank you to all my She Speaks sisters, I appreciated your honesty and love). So here's the message God placed on my heart to share at She Speaks and with you...
We are forgiven even when we don't wear our listening ears
Do you wear your listening ears? Do you hear God’s voice, do you take time to hear His call? Big questions, huh? Let me share with you a moment that reminded me to tighten MY listening ears, God truly does speak to us in some colorful ways!
Recently I was taking a shower & shaving my legs (which ONLY happens on the weekend so it's a BIG DEAL). My sweet 4 year old daughter came in the bathroom and said "whatcha doing mommy?". My first thought was, duh - what does it look like but instead of sarcasm I went with "taking a shower baby (in my sweet mommy voice) don't open the curtain". Ok, what do you think happened next? SHE OPENED THE CURTAIN! Side note, I do not like it when my daughter and/or husband open the shower curtain while I’m shaving because I immediately get chill pumps, then I have razor burn... ladies, you know the drill. I know it's silly but it’s a pet peeve of mine… Anyway, as soon as my daughter opened the curtain I turned into mean mommy and yelled “do you listen, where are your listening ears”, she said “I don’t know but I’m getting out of here!". I felt so bad about yelling at her, it broke my heart but she was pretty much right back to business as usual. I asked her to forgive me when I got out of the shower and she did as she always does. If only we could all be as forgiving as my sweet 4 year old!
A few days later I was still thinking about this and how badly I felt about biting my sweet girl's head off. I started thinking of new and improved mommy of the year responses. Then it dawned on me, God must want to yell at His children (ME) all the time too, I'm sure He's constantly thinking ARE YOU LISTENING, WHERE ARE YOUR LISTENING EARS?
God reminded me that He loves us even when we don't wear our listening ears. He doesn’t yell at us, instead He forgives us and with a Fatherly voice reminds us how we should listen to His desire for our life, He reminds us of His plan and how perfect it is. God's response is the correct response, mine was not!
Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God sent His one and only Son to die for us knowing we would not wear our listening ears, Jesus has already paid the price for our lack of listening. What an amazing love He has for us! His love is never ending, it’s forgiving, it’s merciful, it’s full of grace EVEN when we don’t wear our listening ears.
I found the definition of Grace online at www.freedictionary.com which states that grace is the “Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people, the state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God” – how awesome is it that we are PROTECTED/FORGIVEN by the blood of Jesus... which He gave FREELY even though we are not good listeners!
SO my challenge to you is to TIGHTEN YOUR LISTENING EARS (as I tell my daughter)!
Psalm 81:8 says "Hear, O my people, and I will warn you—
if you would but listen to me, O Israel!
10 says “ I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”
HE wants to fill our desires, He wants to bless us!!!
Listen to His call, hear His desire for your life, it’ll be much better than anything you come up with on your own! After all, we don't want to miss out on a blessing He has in store for us!
I'm planning to share everything God placed on my heart during She Speaks in a future post. I will say this, He taught me so much, He started a healing in me, He introduced me to many new sisters who love Him just as much as I do, He did a great work during She Speaks. He truly is AWESOME!
NOW wear those listening ears!
Heartfelt scripture and my life verse: JEREMIAH 29:11
