Learning to Listen

Reconciliation United Methodist Church July 5, 2010 a Monday Meditation by Pastor Baker Learning to Listen Read I Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14   People today don't put much stock in dreams. Such thinking is fairly recent. Historically and biblically speaking, generations of people who have gone before us thought otherwise. Sure, there were dreams that were likely to mean nothing, perhaps the result of eating something odd the night before - but there were also dreams that communicated important truths and spiritual insights.   Take Joseph, who dreamed about how God would one day make him a great leader in Egypt (Genesis 37); Daniel, the great interpreter of dreams (Daniel 2); Joseph, who was told in a dream that his betrothed would conceive a child from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1), or the Magi who were told in a dream to return home a different way to protect the new born Messiah of Israel (Matthew 2). Some might say that God often chooses to speak to us in dreams because that is a time we are more susceptible to God's direction and guidance. Perhaps it is when we dream that our human will is less prone to resistance and obstinance.   Solomon's prayer for wisdom is so powerful and worthy of our prayerful imitation that we often forget that his entire conversation with God happened while he was sleeping: "Then Solomon awoke; it had been a dream" (I Kings 3:15). I often wonder if God came to Solomon then because that was the best time to try and get a busy king's attention. As far as dreams go, I rarely can remember my own, but I do think that to hear God, to speak to God, and to seek God's will for my life often requires slowing down, taking time out from my busy schedule, and turning off all the distracting sounds and voices that can so easily deter me from hearing God's voice. Something like that happens when I take time to be still, pray, and read Scripture on a daily basis - whether I am dreaming or not. Lord of both my waking and my sleeping hours, help me to be still long enough to hear your voice and discern your will for my life. Amen. Monday Meditation  is a weekly email ministry of Reconciliation United Methodist Church written by Pastor Kevin Baker. To subscribe to other RUMC email lists, click here and go the the "Subscribe to our Lists" picture link.   RUMC P.O. Box 52326 Durham, North Carolina 27717 Reconciliation United Methodist Church