How Are You Listening?

I made a point to be awake around 3:30 again this morning.  As I stood in the quiet midst of our bedroom loft, I strained my ears to hear the distant music that I had heard yesterday at that time. It would seem that this particular performance was not to be heard on this day though.  But as I peeked out the shower window into the darkness of the night, I did hear another serenade coming from the direction of the trees that abound throughout the golf course across the street.  It was the melody of a lone owl hooting a cadence that softly filled the air.  His call combined with bars of absolute silence made for a beautiful song of the Lord that bedazzled the still of the morning and brought a promising blanket of peace to the upcoming day.

It would seem that not all of the Lord’s music comes in common forms of intricate tunes and lyrics that are accompanied by known musical instruments.  His music is infinite in its composition and timbre.  I would therefore think that the composition of our hearts is also very important as we seek to hear the Lord’s songs in our lives.

Yesterday when I had returned to the warmth of our bed after listening to the sounds of the bird’s early morning sonnet (see “Are You Listening” 4/2/12), I laid my head on my pillow and gazed upon my wife sleeping soundly next to me.  Suddenly she opened her eyes, gave me a big smile of loving recognition and then slowly drifted back off to sleep.  As I continued to observe her I thought about everything that she has been through over the last few years and I asked: “I wonder what music she is hearing?”  Then I considered all the daily Word that she and I have been ingesting and I knew the answer to my wonderings. This question and answer would seem to hold a key to the accurate receiving and clarity of the frequency of the Lord’s music that we are tuning in to.

This morning when I returned to bed my mind drifted off into a continuation of what I believe the Lord had been showing me during the previous morning.  The words of 2 Timothy 1:7 came back to my mind and I realized that Paul’s reminder to Timothy is also a reminder for us.  Paul said “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  (NKJV)  It is a reminder of how we are to listen to and then appropriate the music of God into our lives.  He is saying that we are not to seek out the Lord’s music with the spirit or ways of fear, but with the spirit or ways of His power or ability, through His love nature and therefore with soundness of mind, for as you know, “we have the mind of Christ.”  (1 Corinthians 2:16 God’s Word ©)

Have you ever noticed in the Gospels how Jesus almost always followed up His teachings with a natural example?  Well, He did the same thing for me last night!  As soon as I thought through some of these ideas, I turned over in the bed and was trying to doze off when my wife’s breathing pattern changed and she emitted a little sound from her lips.  Over the last couple of years I have become very attuned and sensitive (read this: “Over-Sensitive!!!) to her every movement and response to her daily activities, and this small inconsistency in her sleeping pattern quickly set off the blinking red lights in my mind.  Along with the flashing beacons also came a flood of many negative pictures as to what the change in her breathing could mean.  Then in another instant I thought of 2 Timothy 1:7 and almost laughed out loud as I considered the “way” I was receiving all the information that had just came into to my mind.

In the initial split second my natural inclination lent itself to using the ways of fear as the receiver of what had occurred.  Then my spirit-man intervened and the truth of the ability of God and His word replaced the spirit or ways of fear.  His words of love, healing and strength flooded my mind and I realized that my wife’s breathing had returned to normal once again and the quiet music of the night was prevailing in our room!  I have to tell you, His music is much more calming and restful, and contains a healing balm that nothing that the world’s spirit of fear can touch!

How are you receiving the Lord’s music today?  Is it through the natural spirit or ways of fear, or through the calming and restful spirit or ways of God’s power and ability, His love nature and therefore with soundness of mind?  Remember, in order to get the best signal, you have to have the right receiver!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word (and His music…) and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”