listen

At the beach this past week, I was brought to a place to discover the answer to this:

"Why do we clutter our lives with everything and why can't we just stop... and listen?"

What are we afraid of?

That we may not like what we hear being spoken to us?
That we are so insecure in who we are that we have to find approval everywhere except with Who it matters?
That God may ask us to do something TOO big?
That He may tell us He loves us TOO much?
That we may have to face our sin to tell it that Jesus has already overcome it?
That His call on our life may be TOO scary?

I think we're all entirely too immersed in social media and clutter, and I'll be the first to admit it. With my iPhone, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, texting, calls, 3 different email accounts, there's always a place to find distraction. A place to suppress the voice inside.

Maybe Africa seems so appealing to Americans when it comes to international missions because we can't choose these distractions there. We can't replace authenticity in life with a cluttered facade there. We have to hear. What would happen if we sought to listen here and now? If we could quiet ourselves long enough to hear that God wants so much more for us than what we choose for ourselves- more love, more joy?

Maybe it's scary. Maybe we think the Holy Spirit might ask something from us that seems too intense, too uncomfortable, too crazy, too out there, too difficult.

Or maybe we're choosing that for ourselves by refusing to listen.