Get Off Your Knees and Pray by Sheila Walsh

Author:Sheila Walsh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

part 3

the

plan

9

How Do I Know I Heard

God’s Voice?

Was It Him or Last Night’s Pizza?

“I have some great news for you,” he told me.

“What’s that?” I enquired.

“God told me that I’m going to marry you.”

“Well,” I replied, “as soon as he tells me too I’ll get right back to you.”

—A CONVERSAITION AT THE LONDON SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY, SUMMER 1977

The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” —1 SAMUEL 3:8–10

I read a sign in a storefront recently that said, “We sell everything you need to tell the one you love you’d marry her all over again.”

Think about that statement for a moment. The implication is clear: gifts communicate love. One might reasonably assume the more you spend, the more heartfelt the sentiment. But in reality that’s not the case. Commercialism is a subtle invader—it creeps up on us and can sound very convincing, but it is a poor substitute for communication and relationship.

I am a big fan of NBC’s sitcom The Office. One particular episode illustrates my point about gifts. It’s Christmas, and the staff of this Scranton-based paper company decides to play Secret Santa. They each pull a name from a hat and promise to buy that person a gift for about twenty dollars. The boss, Michael Scott (played brilliantly by Steve Carell), splurges on his gift and buys an iPod that costs about four hundred dollars. When it’s time to open the gifts, Ryan, who receives the iPod, is overwhelmed and embarrassed. But when Michael opens his gift from his Secret Santa, it is a hand-knitted oven mitt. Hating it, he pitches a fit and ruins the whole day.

Michael tries to justify his outburst by saying the gift he received meant, “I only value you an oven-mitt’s worth,” whereas his gift said, “I value you an iPod’s worth!”

Michael, of course, missed the point of the gift giving. He’s not alone—it’s getting easier and easier to do in our world as commercialism takes the place of heartfelt gratitude.

Let me unpack that idea a little before you try to knock me off my soapbox. Take Mother’s Day, for example. What is it about? To my understanding it’s about pausing for a moment and reflecting on God’s goodness in giving us a mother to love and parent us with grace and wisdom, and then expressing that thankfulness back to her. Instead we’ve turned it into one more spend-fest. We’re attacked from all angles—television, stores, radio—about the need to express our love in material form. It’s hard to get away. We’re told flowers are a must to demonstrate our caring.

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