Do you ever feel like sometimes your day to day walk with Jesus can seem a little like its plateaued? Not that it’s bad or anything…it’s just the same old same old, it’s missing that edge, that excitement, that suspense that you used to get? Let me share with you something that has helped me keep my faith fresh faced…
I can remember sitting in a school assembly, some 18 years ago, on a hard wooden floor crossed legged. This was a special assembly, as we had a distinguished guest -a police officer from the local force, kitted out in hardhat, hi- vis jacket, and of course shiny handcuffs dangling from his belt – he announced that, that morning he would be instructing us on ‘the dangers of the road’ – cue worst anti-climax ever (we were hoping he was going to tell us what it was like to taser someone, or something to that affect).
All joking aside though, he must have made an impression because I vividly remember to this day the four all-important, life saving, danger-avoiding steps we were all to proceed with when crossing any road – it was also enforced and drummed into our minds by a talking hedgehog that seemed to play between every programme we would watch on TV at the time with the same life-saving four steps.
(Do you remember this?!)
- STOP
- LOOK
- LISTEN
- LIVE
I saw the retro hedgehog advert again the other day in my FB news feed and it brought back these memories in a flood
How poignant are those four words when looking at your faith? Especially when you feel like things might be getting a little stagnant – Stop. Look. Listen. Live.
We live in a world that floods us with information and vies for our attention at every corner, emails, calls, texts, tweets, likes, shares, pokes, adverts, TV, billboards, flyers…the list is endless. Now more than ever it’s so important to keep our faith fresh faced so it doesn’t slide into a structure that will suffocate our relationship with Jesus.
STOP
It’s always good to regularly stop and take a breather from the marathon of your day, to unplug, switch off and unwind from the madness of everything that wants your focus… The Bible tells us in Psalm 46:10 to be still and know that God is God – to just take a moment and remember the important things – it can be so easy to get worked up, wound up and give far too much of our attention to the little things! The most important thing is to remember who is on the throne, and who has your back.
LOOK
I completely and wholeheartedly agree with the phrase that ‘the beauty is in the details’. I had a jolt back to earth a few years ago when reading my bible – you see I’d read it everyday, religiously – not religiously in the good sense that I never missed a day but in the bad sense; because I thought I had too. It’s only when I realised this, that I slowed down and really started to pay attention to what I was reading rather than reading for details sake.
Here’s a little tip I’ve found helpful – when reading your bible, read it SLOWLY, don’t rush, it’s about quality not quantity. Look at it deeply; who was it written too, why was it written, what is the context of the passage you’re reading – get a good study bible, this will have all this in it – then put YOURSELF in the story as one of the characters, or as a spectator to the scene. How are you feeling, what are you seeing, what does it sound like and what does it smell like – I promise you this will revolutionise the way you read your bible forever and help you get EXCITED about your faith.
LISTEN
Let me tell you something I was really good at…I was really good at telling God what I needed…ok….maybe if I’m being really honest, I was totally good at telling God what I wanted- in fact I was so good at telling God what I wanted that I completely forgot to listen to what God might’ve been saying to me – even when he could’ve been
responding to what I’d asked for.
I’ve had to shift the way I look at prayer, you see for years my prayer life was a monologue – Shakespeare would have been impressed with the stanzas I prayed. But prayer is meant to be a DIALOGUE, it’s a two way thing! How boring would any relationship in your life be if it was only one of you who was actually allowed talk?! The best way to get the most out of any relationship is to occasionally stop talking and listen -this is totally true when it comes to your relationship with God.
LIVE
When you take time stop, look and listen, truly evaluating where you’re at that’s when you will truly begin living to your God given potential. Do you know that if you are blindfolded and left to randomly walk, you will naturally begin to walk in one big circle?! Don’t get so bogged down in the busyness of life that you pay for it in your relationship with God, walking in the same tired tracks, in the same monotonous circles – break the cycle! By stopping, looking and listening I promise you, you will truly begin living.
