See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”
Heb. 3:12-15
Praying today I asked the Father to help me to hear His Spirit speaking to me better. Sometimes I feel the things that drag me down and frustrate me are so much louder than what He has to say. His words and wisdom get drowned out by sin’s deceitfulness and all I hear is myself reacting. I went so far as to ask Him to yell at ME, so I would hear Him today. Ludicrous, I know, but I did. And do you know what happened next? I think I learned something.
As soon as I said it, I knew it wasn’t really God’s way. His Spirit is a quiet voice inside. The one that calmly sits in the background, all the while knowing what is the right thing to do, waiting patiently for me to listen and obey. It doesn’t yell. I thought about my childhood and how I was disciplined, how I learned discipline. I learned a loud one. Raising one’s voice was a very common way to get a point across in my house and it is probably pretty common in most homes. Mine included. I’ve grown accustomed to learning that way. I don’t want that for my kids.
I don’t want them to grow up and not know how to listen to their conscience over their own sinful reactions. I want them to learn through wise, consistent council. I want them to learn from their mistakes. I want the pain to come from a lesson learned, not from some harsh word that I spewed out in a fit of frustration. I want to discipline like the Lord disciplines me. He doesn’t yell. He waits for me to figure things out. From my favorite book of James: My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
As soon as I said it, I knew it wasn’t really God’s way. His Spirit is a quiet voice inside. The one that calmly sits in the background, all the while knowing what is the right thing to do, waiting patiently for me to listen and obey. It doesn’t yell. I thought about my childhood and how I was disciplined, how I learned discipline. I learned a loud one. Raising one’s voice was a very common way to get a point across in my house and it is probably pretty common in most homes. Mine included. I’ve grown accustomed to learning that way. I don’t want that for my kids.
I don’t want them to grow up and not know how to listen to their conscience over their own sinful reactions. I want them to learn through wise, consistent council. I want them to learn from their mistakes. I want the pain to come from a lesson learned, not from some harsh word that I spewed out in a fit of frustration. I want to discipline like the Lord disciplines me. He doesn’t yell. He waits for me to figure things out. From my favorite book of James: My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
So this is new for me, but I’m going to throw a question out there and hope that I can gain some wisdom and encouragement and hopefully the discussion will help others too. Have you ever had a problem with yelling? How have you conquered it?
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