This past Sunday I used a quote from Oz Guinness’s book The Call: Finding And Fulfilling The Central Purpose Of Your Life. I have one more I’d like to share as I begin my weekly newsletter.
“None of us arrives in this world complete, and none of us has the wisdom and strength to create ourselves by ourselves. Instead we grow and mature as we respond to what is outside ourselves. But we do not just respond to other people or society, let alone to internal things like a conscience or our genes. Such responses are relatively trivial. At our highest and most human, we are responding to whatever is behind the world and life itself.”
—Oz Guinness
Guinness goes on to say that the being behind the world and life itself is God.
The important point that Guinness makes is that we shouldn’t seek to grow exclusively through responding to other people, society or even our genetics— even though those areas greatly influence our lives. There is a greater, richer undercurrent that seeks to guide us; the presence of God.
Yes, we grow and mature as we respond to the presence of God within us. First we must learn to sense God in us. Then we must be bold enough to respond to the inner promptings of God.
Awareness first.
Action next.
When was the last time you felt an inner prompting from God? Sometimes this can feel like an inner nudge on your heart. Maybe it was a nudge to talk with someone, and you thought to yourself “Why should I speak to them? We haven’t spoken in a long time. It might be awkward.” But you decide to call anyway, only to discover that the person is going through a rough patch and needed a friend.
I believe these inner promptings happen every day. Unfortunately, we are a very distracted generation. There is much in our world that demands our attention. As Christians, we must make space in our schedules to listen for the impressions that God makes on our hearts.
When you respond to a nudging from God, you will grow into your most true self. Why? Because we don’t have the wisdom or strength to develop ourselves. Thankfully, God is working behind the scenes to shape and mold us. This process sometimes happens in small and subtle ways, other times through massive, life-altering acts of faith.
None of us came into the world as complete, fully formed people. But God is still working on us, speaking to us, moving in us.
One of Jesus’ common refrains, after he finished teaching, was “Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” In this saying, he acknowledges that although everyone in the crowd would physically hear his words, far fewer would truly take his message to heart.
Let’s develop the ears of our heart to hear God in us. To sense God’s presence. And respond.
This Sunday we continue The Story Of David series. David finally becomes king! But what kind of king will he be?
Tonight is Wednesday Night Dinner and it is Taco Night! Join us for Bible study (or for kids— God and Art) at 5 pm and dinner at 5:45 pm. Also, the first Walking In Their Shoes discussion group will meet tonight at 6:15 pm. Need to still watch the 30 minute interview? Here’s the link: https://www.unitypres.org/workshops/ Watch Video 2.
See you on Sunday!
—Pastor David
