Hearing the Gentle Voice of God (shared by a friend in my prayer group in Knoxville)
Our dog, Oliver, is a friendly, getting older mix who looks a little like the old Victrola record label ad. He is happy inside of our large yard with a wooded back lot and has an electric fence that he respects. His general approach to people and other dogs is, “who is going to pet or play with me?” But last year, a German Shepherd and a Chow mix came into our yard off leash and ate him up. He had a lot of stitches, a very torn up ear and was quite shaken.
The dogs have only been seen a few times this past year and each time Oliver goes feral and raises his hackles and remembers his enemies. This morning the dogs' owner walked them on leash past our house and I worried that Oliver was not going to honor his electric fence. He did but he was totally freaked out. For a long time after they went past he just couldn't hear me or respond to my commands in any way but feverishly went around marking his territory against his foes. He was shaking and barking and though I was very gentle with him he couldn't settle down for a long time. He finally drank some water, looked up and saw me. His hackles smoothed and he came to me and seemed a little relieved to be back inside on his rug.
Oliver had interrupted my time of silence and as I tried to sit still again I wondered, “What has barked at me or torn me up in my past that makes it hard for me to hear the gentle voice of God? Do I run around frenetically trying to secure my territory against enemies that would harm me again?
As you all go about your days there in Malawi, I am praying that you would be able to hear the gentle voice of God despite all the things that may tear you up on the inside there (being far from those who know you and love you the best, being in systems that are incredible inefficient and unjust at times, feeling anger, frustration, loneliness, and exhaustion)... May this time of Advent (even though it is 95 degrees and that Christmas will certainly look different there for you) be a time of carving out some space to listen in for His voice.
Our dog, Oliver, is a friendly, getting older mix who looks a little like the old Victrola record label ad. He is happy inside of our large yard with a wooded back lot and has an electric fence that he respects. His general approach to people and other dogs is, “who is going to pet or play with me?” But last year, a German Shepherd and a Chow mix came into our yard off leash and ate him up. He had a lot of stitches, a very torn up ear and was quite shaken.
The dogs have only been seen a few times this past year and each time Oliver goes feral and raises his hackles and remembers his enemies. This morning the dogs' owner walked them on leash past our house and I worried that Oliver was not going to honor his electric fence. He did but he was totally freaked out. For a long time after they went past he just couldn't hear me or respond to my commands in any way but feverishly went around marking his territory against his foes. He was shaking and barking and though I was very gentle with him he couldn't settle down for a long time. He finally drank some water, looked up and saw me. His hackles smoothed and he came to me and seemed a little relieved to be back inside on his rug.
Oliver had interrupted my time of silence and as I tried to sit still again I wondered, “What has barked at me or torn me up in my past that makes it hard for me to hear the gentle voice of God? Do I run around frenetically trying to secure my territory against enemies that would harm me again?
As you all go about your days there in Malawi, I am praying that you would be able to hear the gentle voice of God despite all the things that may tear you up on the inside there (being far from those who know you and love you the best, being in systems that are incredible inefficient and unjust at times, feeling anger, frustration, loneliness, and exhaustion)... May this time of Advent (even though it is 95 degrees and that Christmas will certainly look different there for you) be a time of carving out some space to listen in for His voice.
No comments:
Post a Comment