Monday, August 18, 2008

Go to the Cricket

Last night, I went into my room and closed the door and laid on my bed in the darkness and just enjoyed the "silence" of just being still in a quiet room. Soon I noticed the sound of a cricket outside my window. (Yes, this is about to get really cliche..... Ha). Recently I had read something that someone had written (and I think this was on the Tenth Avenue North website) about looking for God in everything- not just in places where he is obvious to us, such as a beautiful sunset or the ocean waves, but in every place... and in everything, beautiful and not-so-beautiful. So I've been trying to practice that more... and so I started to think about God creating crickets. Ugly, yes, very. And do I want them in my house? No. And I know there are reasons that they chirp the way they do... self-defense, looking for a mate, etc. but I started to think about what the sound of a cricket means to humans... and mostly, it's symbol of night time, of quiet and of peace and rest. And I started to think about the cricket's chirping being like God's voice to me at that moment, offering peace and rest. I know this is getting weird. You probably shouldn't read my blog if you can't handle "weird". Ha.

So, this morning after my family left for school, I was faced with mounds of laundry and dirty dishes and bathrooms needing to be cleaned and groceries needing to be bought... and remembering that I had promised myself the night before that I would go out for a walk this morning and start getting back into an exercise routine, but not feeling much like doing that... and with the thought in the back of my mind that I need to go and spend some time with God... and I just got overwhelmed and went back to bed. As I was laying there, I heard the cricket (same one?) and realized that God could be speaking to me again, asking me to come and spend some time with him and find some peace there. While I was thinking about all of this, my mind got side-tracked onto its many concerns and the voice of the cricket faded for 10 or 15 minutes while the other voices in my head vied for my attention. During a lull in the voices, I suddenly was aware again of the cricket, still chirping loudly and I thought about how it is like that so often with me and God. He calls and calls and sometimes I hear him and other times, his voice fades into the background of my busy life and he is still calling, but I am not even aware of it.

You'd think at this point, having been "called" twice, I would get up and go and get my bible and journal and spend some time with God, but this time I fell asleep.

When I woke up, just a few minutes later, I immediately listened for the chirping..... and it was gone.

Is God telling me he won't "chirp" forever? That there will come a time when, if I ignore him long enough, I won't be able to hear his voice at all?

Lord, give me a willing spirit to search you out every morning, to come when you call, to tell the voices to be still and to see you in everything I see and do during my day... to always listen for your voice and seek your face first.

2 comments:

Kristy said...

We certainly do let the "voices" and cares of this world hush His voice in our ears. There are times I run right to Him when He calls for me to spend time with Him, and other times I put that time off until I am done with....whatever it is. Now I know I will think of this whenever I hear a cricket! That is a good reminder for us all - to listen to Him.

Beth Martin said...

absolutely perfect.
i think this is what i admire in you. you have the ability to crack up and be completely immature in a VERY serious bible class, but then can turn it around and find God in the simplest things. i appreciate the reminder that god won't "chirp" forever.