Red Wednesday's Wisdom - CHG #11, Part Two

Act by Responding Versus Reacting
For those of you who may not know, my brother Jeffrey was in a serious motorcycle accident, and on August 24, 2013, he went to be with the Lord.  For that reason, there has been a delay in my blog teaching.  I wanted and needed the time to grieve and process the many different emotions, thoughts, experiences, lessons, and connections that his death held for me.  

I have often expressed that I do not believe in coincidences, but I firmly believe in the God-incidences of life.  So, keeping that thought in mind, I want to honor my brother’s memory and our family’s love for him with the song that has accompanied CHG #11 since 1999.  It became popular in the early 90’s.  I have listened to this song hundreds of times, and without fail, I am moved to tears for the meaning it has in my life at that time I take it in, and that has happened once again. Please get yourself comfortable, sit back, and relax. And as you do, reflect on the verses from Micah 1:1-3, that support CHG #11. Focus your mind, ears, and eyes to the following lyrics, and then click here  for the angelic sound of Mike and the Mechanics, and their song, The Living Years.  After you have pondered upon the lyrics and music, consider how the last verse in Micah speaks to you about the Lord’s coming.

Every generation, blames the one before
And all of their frustrations, come beating on your door
I know that I’m a prisoner to all my father held so dear
I know that I’m a hostage to all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

No crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thoughts
Stilted conversations, I’m afraid that’s all we’ve got
You say you just don’t see it, he says its perfect sense
You just can’t get agreement, in this present tense
We all talk a different language, talking in defense

Say it loud (say it loud)
Say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear (as well as you hear)
It’s too late (it’s too late)
When we die (ooh when we die)
To admit we don’t see eye to eye (we don’t see eye to eye)

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
And it’s the bitterness that lasts
So don’t yield to the fortunes
Sometimes see is fate
It may have a new perspective on a different date
And if you don’t give up and don’t give in you may just be ok

(So say it say it say it loud)
Say it loud
Say it clear (oh oo say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear (as well as you hear )
(Because it’s too late it’s too late)
It’s too late when we die (oh when we die)
To admit we don’t see eye to eye (we don’t see eye to eye)

Our SW from August 21, 2013 was to read Micah 1:1-3 in its entirety. Then we were to put CHG #11 into practice by paying attention, listening, and looking at what Micah 1:1-3 was telling us in light of the Lord’s coming.  When I examined these verses, in other words, paid attention to them, listened to them, and looked at them, I was first taken in by the title, Grief over Samaria and Jerusalem.  Grief  has certainly been the word to describe what I have gone through over this past month.  And as I gravitated to this word, I also felt a special closeness and identification with the Lord in terms of His character.  Like me, God’s Word was showing me that God has a history of grieving for the people He loves and has created. The exclamatory words – “Attention!”  “Look!”  “Listen!” are messages that come straight from God.  And in the context of these verses, God is grieving over His people who are also going to grieve as a result of their refusal to respond to Him by giving Him their attention, looking to Him for how to live, and listening to His words of wisdom, since after all, He is God.

The people of Samaria and Jerusalem are no different than you or I.  We have also chosen to not trust God or obey Him at times.  Eventually, and sometimes sooner, and sometimes later, we face the consequences of our choices.  If you are a parent, you know all too well the heartache and grief that you deal with when faced with a teen or adult child that continues to choose the path of destruction or the young child that consistently and defiantly disobeys you.  That’s how God feels about each and every one of us.  Destructive and painful life styles can be avoided or changed, but for whatever the reason – for whatever the thinking might be, the focus is on self rather than God.  And the motive is to get what I want rather than what I need. 

“The Lord is coming!” (Micah 1:3) 

Oh my goodness, the vast reality of what those four words entail!  The Lord’s coming has, and always will be, about God being a patient, compassionate, and loving Judge.  God is a judge that cares so much for us that He will confront us with our destructive, cluttered- up, sinful living that can cause not only physical death but eternal death as well.  God is a Judge who offers an escape route to rescue us, if only we would choose to return to Him and live out the dream and purpose He has for us.   But, there are those of us who will react to this message with rejection, as portrayed in the song, The Living Years.  Though it is about a relationship between a father and his son, it could be representative of any relationship that reacts to not accepting or considering what is being said , and thus the clutter begins – blaming, frustrations, bondage, silence, disagreements, defensiveness, quarreling, bitterness. and anger.

CHG #11 is telling us that our clutter will lessen if we respond to life rather than react to it.   How do we do that?  I will make it simple. It is in Micah, and it is in the lyrics to The Living Years. It all boils down to just one word.  LISTEN.  Listen to God’s Word and listen to those He has sent to you on His behalf, and then finally, listen to one another.

It is my prayer that you will respond to this week’s SW rather than react to it by rejecting it. I ask the Holy Spirit help you in being able to honestly evaluate how you are thinking and feeling in regards to this week’s teaching.

In one word:
Identify what causes you to grieve.
What sets you off to react rather than respond?
What change can you make to start responding?