After being in somewhat of a zombie state over the weekend due to the pain meds, I decided that Sunday night was my last round of “every four hours.” These pain-numbing, body altering meds were going to have to go! Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for the help with pain and sleep, but the side effects were weird. In particular, these meds altered my ability to concentrate, listen, and stay awake. Some folks would say that I’m on meds all the time. J Nevertheless, I was grateful that last Monday I could finally listen to preaching on my phone and jot down some notes in my journal. Hence, the lesson from this hernia surgery that I am sharing today is as follows:
Lesson #3 – One of best responses to and blessings in a crisis is to listen.
That Monday morning, I heard and recorded the following statements from one of my favorite preachers, Tony Evans.
- God brings crisis for you to know that God is real!
- Nothing will make you seek God like a crisis.
- Crisis make you stop praying cute prayers and makes you call out to God!
- A truth to remember in a crisis: Heaven rules; earth never has the final word.
- Never let your feelings sit in judgment over your faith.
- Our God is the God of all the nations. When you have a “nation-sized” problem, you don’t want a “street-sized” God!
- Name your crisis “Goliath” to remind you what will happen to it.
How grateful I was to be able to listen to the preaching of God’s Word and to be challenged, edified and encouraged. You see, as a parallel to Day 1 and Day 2, a crisis, “a hernia time,” will be much more beneficial if you just make opportunities to listen. I used my ear-buds with my phone and listened to sermons, music, and the Scripture. How soothing, encouraging, challenging, and calming were the words of eternal Truth. All I had to do was listen. Times of worship occurred; tears flowed; my heart rejoiced; conversation took place between my Lord and me; and . . . sometimes I would drift off to sleep. But, what a way to rest! That chair in the family room where I spent most of my time holds special meaning to me now; it is and was a place of rich communion.
So in a crisis, be still and listen. Just be careful who or what you are listening to. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth (1 Samuel 3:9-10).
Here are two YouTube links of one of the many songs we love to sing at our church that sums up my post for today.
Speak, O Lord – 1 (A vast congregation of men only)
Speak, O Lord – 2 (Kristyn Getty; with lyrics)
From A Pastor's Heart 