FROM: Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ABOUT ME: Living the highs and lows of life in the adventurous pursuit of God Himself and of who I'm meant to be as the Bride of Christ.
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Monday, February 09, 2009,9:13 p.m.
DREAM
I had another dream on Sunday morning. As it always does, it involved many random things - playing in an orchestra, eating a bagel, talking to a woman with very red hair. But something struck me - twice - in this dream.
The first was that in the middle of rehearsal, someone's cell phone went off and the tune it played was "How Great Thou Art". The person took so long to pick up the call that almost the entire orchestra was about to dive into worship using this song. The conductor, however, was not impressed, wanting only to continue on with the rehearsal. He was actually upset that someone had let their phone ring in the middle of his rehearsal time.
The second incident in the dream had to do with the woman with red hair. Once the rehearsal was finished and we were making last-minute preparations to board a bus to the concert hall, this woman asked to speak with me. She told me she had a word from the Lord for me. When she began to talk to me I noticed that he hair (of all things) was only half styled, so I offered to fix it for her. Though she was still trying to tell me the word she had for me I was more intent on styling her hair, and by the time I was done there was only time left for me to get a bagel to eat, ensure my violin was packed up and ready to go, and board the bus.
Perhaps even those two things seem pretty random on the surface. But as I thought about it more, I recognized that both incidents illustrated missed opportunities. The first - a missed opportunity to enter into and experience the presence of the Lord. His presence was so near as we all almost broke out into His worship, but we were cut off due to a timeline, a schedule, etiquette, rules. The second - a missed opportunity to hear and receive the voice of the Lord through His servant. The word was ready to be spoken and was missed due to distraction and more schedule. Ways to serve, things to do, body to feed.
Martha's missed opportunity was not that she served instead of sitting at the feet of Jesus. It was that she was distracted in her service. She missed the opportunity to experience Him and to hear His voice and learn from Him. Mary chose the better part - to gaze upon Jesus, rest in Him, wait upon Him, learn from Him, fix her eyes continually upon Him.
Needless to say, since this rather random dream I am attempting to watch more closely for those places where I either miss or lay aside opportunities to experience God simply because I feel the need to feed the god of schedule and the god of service. There is only one true God. May we never miss Him.
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42)
The first was that in the middle of rehearsal, someone's cell phone went off and the tune it played was "How Great Thou Art". The person took so long to pick up the call that almost the entire orchestra was about to dive into worship using this song. The conductor, however, was not impressed, wanting only to continue on with the rehearsal. He was actually upset that someone had let their phone ring in the middle of his rehearsal time.
The second incident in the dream had to do with the woman with red hair. Once the rehearsal was finished and we were making last-minute preparations to board a bus to the concert hall, this woman asked to speak with me. She told me she had a word from the Lord for me. When she began to talk to me I noticed that he hair (of all things) was only half styled, so I offered to fix it for her. Though she was still trying to tell me the word she had for me I was more intent on styling her hair, and by the time I was done there was only time left for me to get a bagel to eat, ensure my violin was packed up and ready to go, and board the bus.
Perhaps even those two things seem pretty random on the surface. But as I thought about it more, I recognized that both incidents illustrated missed opportunities. The first - a missed opportunity to enter into and experience the presence of the Lord. His presence was so near as we all almost broke out into His worship, but we were cut off due to a timeline, a schedule, etiquette, rules. The second - a missed opportunity to hear and receive the voice of the Lord through His servant. The word was ready to be spoken and was missed due to distraction and more schedule. Ways to serve, things to do, body to feed.
Martha's missed opportunity was not that she served instead of sitting at the feet of Jesus. It was that she was distracted in her service. She missed the opportunity to experience Him and to hear His voice and learn from Him. Mary chose the better part - to gaze upon Jesus, rest in Him, wait upon Him, learn from Him, fix her eyes continually upon Him.
Needless to say, since this rather random dream I am attempting to watch more closely for those places where I either miss or lay aside opportunities to experience God simply because I feel the need to feed the god of schedule and the god of service. There is only one true God. May we never miss Him.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42)
