This month ROC board member, Patrick Wersell, shares with us insights about listening to God:
I often have a hard time hearing God amidst the busyness of life. I was preparing a sermon for the nursing home a few weeks ago on Jude and my son, Eli, came down stairs. He asked me if I would play with him and I told him that I was busy doing something right now and could play with him when I was done. He said o.k. and went away. About five minutes later he was back, with a ball and said, “Dad watch me” as he bounced it on his hand. “Yes Eli,” I replied, “Good job, I’m busy.” Five minutes later he’s back again, flipping. “Good job, still busy.” “When are you going to be done Dad?” “In a while, why don’t you play with your cars for a while?” The cars were on the floor next to the couch I was sitting on. So he starts to play, and he begins to sing a song.
Now he’s not even paying attention to me, he’s playing with his cars and he’s just singing to himself. The song went like this, “Oh won’t you play with me, Oh why won’t you play with me?”; repeated over and over in a soft 5 year old voice. It took me a couple of minutes even to hear it. As I sit here typing and wiping my eyes, I don’t think that I’ll ever forget it.
Needless to say I did not preach on Jude. I taught on the importance of listening to God; of being able to hear His still, small voice, and realizing that Christianity is built on relationships, my relationship with Christ and my relationship with others. We often spend so much time doing the “really” important things, that we miss the things that are actually important to God.
The folks at the nursing home may not have received a heavily researched message on Jude, but they did receive a message from God, and more importantly I did. My sermons don’t mean much to Eli, he just wants me to spend time with him. And my intelligence isn’t especially impressive to the creator of the universe. No, he wants the same thing my 5 year old does, to be important enough to me that I will set aside what I’m busy doing and just spend time with him.
Your brother in Christ,
Patrick