Even when we know God’s way is the best way to live we resist. I know I should eat healthy and exercise but I come up with all kinds of excuses not to. It is the same with our relationship with God and our quest for happiness.
Life has a way of teaching us lessons we need to learn to take the next step on our journey and to fulfill our mission. When we don’t pay attention to these experiences we are resisting God’s presence in our lives and we miss opportunities to be happy. If I don’t eat healthy, I don’t feel my best, if I don’t exercise my body turns to fat and I have no energy, so why resist.
Each of us has a pattern of resistance and surrender in our lives, times when we say no and times when we realize the stupidity of resisting. God’s grace gives us the strength to break through the resistance. Grace is the help God gives us to respond to his call and to do what is good and right. It takes sitting in silence and reflection to see those moments of grace and to realize God is in charge. Sitting alone in silence helps us to learn to listen. Listening is a skill that has to be learned and developed, a skill that many of us do not have but need to have if we are to stop the resistance.
How are your listening skills? What do you need to do to improve your listening to God and others?