Wednesday, November 22, 2017

When God Tries to Get Our Attention

My pastor, Roy Hicks, Jr., told a humorous story about how his wife Kay got his attention late one night. After many years pastoring the Eugene Faith Center,  Roy became the Director of Missions for the Foursquare Church. It was a demanding job. Roy spent many hours at work on his computer connecting with churches in the United States and abroad. During one busy season, Roy was bringing his work home more than usual.

One night Roy did not go to bed at the normal time but stayed up glued to his computer screen trying to complete some last minute work. This late to bed scenario was trying to become the norm in their home. As Roy was typing yet another email, Kay walked into Roy’s study without saying a word and draped her lingerie over his computer screen turned around and walked into their bedroom. Roy smiled, turned off his computer and wisely followed his wife. Message delivered.

There are times when the people we love will send us a message that they need us more than they need our faithfulness to a job or a calling. Roy thought he was being faithful to his calling and as a provider for his family when in reality the greatest measure of both of those roles was his ability to rise from his computer and follow his wife.

In the middle of all that you are faithfully doing, the people in your life have a greater priority than your calling or your life-assignment. Look up from what is currently occupying all your time and has created a place for you to hide behind its demands to see what you are missing. It might be the smile of a child needing the physical presence of a parent. It could be co-worker needing some counsel for a challenging life-crisis or maybe it is the Holy Spirit trying to get your attention to deposit a fresh word of revelation. 

There are important messages orbiting around us every day. Most of the time those messages are delivered when we look up from what we thought was so important to finally see what is truly significant.


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