More Thoughts...

At the moment I'm thinking a lot about listening to God. I'm of the opinion that a key part of walking in the Spirit, and therefore living the Christian adventure as God wants, is about being able to recognise the voice of God in the day-to-day moments of life. This also ties in with my thoughts about mission below. Getting a sense of what God is doing in someone else's life revolves around being able to hear God when He's at work.

I've been reading Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, which is helping me to think through the value of meditation in terms of shaping a Christ-like character and learning to hear God. I've taken to spending some time in silence every day to just give God the opportunity to speak to me, with the grand aim of becoming better at hearing the still, small voice amongst the trash and white noise of my life. I didn't realise until I started doing this how hard it is to really stop and be still. Maybe it's just me, but my mind is extremely active and jumps around like a gibbon on an electrified floor. I don't think that I can tame it by sheer force of will at this stage, so I'm just concentrating on being with God. I think that's enough for the moment, as I certainly come away from those times with a greater sense of peace than I entered with. I think that maybe by being silent and waiting on God I am simply allowing the Holy Spirit to attune Himself to my spirit and as a consequence I have more faith in my faith as the day goes on.

The grand goal is, of course, to become more confident in recognising what God is saying to me (and to others through me) both in the mundane and in those krisis moments in life. I am convinced that, for me, this will be crucial in helping me to grow in both discipling and mission. Maybe it will also give me that otherworldly aura and glowing halo that I've been after.