By Judy Villanueva

My son, pay attention to what I say;  turn your ear to my words;  Do not let them out of your sight,
 keep them within your heart,  for they are life to those who find them
 and health to one’s whole body. ( Proverbs 4:20-22)

I was ready for the challenge!  I was twenty-three years old.  She was a baby.  I had a college education.  She had determination!  I saw the look in her eyes and knew that sin had entered her tiny little heart.  She made her move and crawled as fast as she could for the electrical outlet!  She looked over at me and then reached out her dimpled hand in defiance!   I sternly said, “Look at mommy!  Don’t you dare touch that outlet, baby girl.”  We had been here before…many, many times!  She seemed to need to have the lines of authority clarified every single day, and thus, here we were again establishing that I was mommy and she was baby!  I knew stuff.  She did not.  To her credit, she looked right at me and stalled for about ten seconds.  I can’t imagine what went through her baby brain, but in the end, she touched it!

“Look at Me!”  It’s a directive that parents use to get their childrens’ attention.  It is meant to entice the child away from one focal point and onto the parent in order to give needed correction or guidance.  Babies, of course, do not appreciate  the good intentions of the parent and simply want what they want!  This remains a challenge throughout life!   Submitting our desires to God and turning to Him for direction is essential to maintaining a balanced and healthy life.  The problem is not so much that we want this or that, but rather, with the excesses, the points at which our “loves” become disordered.  In other words, where occupations become preoccupations, where passions lead to addictions, and busyness to an anxious heart.

Can you hear God when He calls to you?  It might be a still, small voice…an internal nudge or a louder invitation, like an ulcer, or a life that is falling apart.  If we are not in the habit of “listening”, His might sound like one voice among many.  Noticing God in the midst of ordinary life is learned as it is practiced.

There is nothing more profoundly reorienting than looking at God!  It finds us!

Being willing to be interrupted and guided by God is necessary if we are to be helped to want what is most worthy of wanting!  Do you want God?  I do, in theory!  But, in reality, I want what I want and depend on His kind, steady voice in my days to help me turn away from things that distract me and look at Him.  Discovering how to hear God and being willing to do as He says becomes a holy pathway,  one that fills and quiets the soul…one that brings order to all other “loves”.  Take a minute, listen for God’s voice and then look at Him.  He is the way, the truth and the life…and He loves you!

“Father, I thank You that you are a wise and watchful parent.  Help me to hear You call  when I am in heading away from Your will.  Thank You for all the ways you have made for me to find You.  Keep finding me!  Amen.”

 What about you?

 How ordered are the “loves” in your life?

Are you aware of any excesses that have led to an unbalanced, addicted or an anxious life?

Do you want God?

Can you hear God when He calls to you?

Are you learning how to pay attention to God?  How to tune in to His voice through His Word?  Through prayer and worship?  Though silence and solitude?  Through community?

God is a faithful parent and watches over us with love.  Look at Him.

Worship

Speak to Me by Tommy Walker