Postured to Hear

I find myself feeling tired and it's only 10:30 in the morning! My day has already been packed with "must do" and "have to" activities. Like most women today, I'm blazing through my life at a speed that could make the space shuttle look slow.

In the midst of my bulging day, I've pondered how I listen for God. I'm convinced that how we listen for God, can determine our filling by God. So many of us beg to hear from God, and sadly, when He tries to speak to us, we bristle right by Him.

In scripture, there's an interesting pattern to how Jesus filled people.
"And when it was evening the disciples came to Him saying 'The place is desolate, and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.'
But Jesus said to them 'They don't need to go away; you give them something to eat!'
And they said to Him, 'We have here only five loaves and two fish.' And He said 'Bring them here.'
And ordering the multitudes to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and gave it to His disciples to give to the multitudes. They all ate and were satisfied, and there were 12 baskets of food leftover." (Matthew 14)

The multitude Jesus fed could have been as many as 10 thousand people! The bible says there were 5,000 men, and this didn't include women and children. That's a big crowd and way you slice it, but what's fascinating is how Jesus chose to get their attention so they could be fed. He made them sit down! Prior to this they were milling around, talking to one another, interacting, trying to get a closer look at the healings taking place. Before they could receive a filling, they had to sit. In another encounter shortly after this one, Jesus said the exact same thing to another huge crowd. "And He directed the multitude to sit down on the ground." (Matthew 15)

Why does Jesus insist on a posture of sitting? Simply put, we don't hear very well when we're milling around! To hear from Him, be filled by Him, and have enough for baskets of left-overs; we have to sit down and be still.

Sometimes I practice this by turning off my radio while I'm driving, or keeping the house quiet while I get dressed. Sometimes it looks like getting up a little early to just kneel or sit without an agenda with God. However it may look in our lives... being still may be the most productive thing we do today.

Blessings!
Gari