John 8:43
“Why do you not understand my speech? Because you are unable to hear my word.”
How we think things should go can literally deafen us to God’s voice, and blind us to God’s work.
It is amazing how shut off we can become due to the preconceived notions and long-held traditions that we are unwilling to release for just a few seconds, even when God Himself is asking us to drop them so that He can do a work in our midst.
We stop being open and receptive, and miss out on who knows how much!
With our haughty 20/20 hindsight we berate those stupid Pharisees, yet how many times have we done the exact same thing? We miss God and even inhibit His work because something doesn’t coincide with the way we’ve been taught, or with the method we always thought worked, or maybe because the rules aren’t our rules (our own interpretation of God’s rules).
Always be open and looking for how God may be at work around you. Look beyond your own set boundaries so as not to miss Jesus’ kingdom that may look quite different, radically different, than how you were always taught, or how you think it should look.
This is what those religious leaders in Jesus’ day did—they missed God Himself, His kingdom on earth, because it wasn’t the way they were taught or thought. They looked for God more at the level of intellect, and not spirit, so that they couldn’t even hear Jesus’ message. They couldn’t hear the Word behind the words. Humans were dictating how God should operate.
And we do it too.
What blinders or ear plugs do you wear that block your awareness of God at work?
We of course don’t mean to be open to what we know is sin, what is against God. We don’t want to give anything close to that impression.