I have been listening to the BEMA Discipleship podcast for almost a year now. It has been super slow going, but always fruitful. Marty Solomon teaches in a way that is enlightening and challenging at the same time. I recently listened to #24 Creating Space (https://bemadiscipleship.com/session1?offset=1481806800524&reversePaginate=true). I am NOT good at creating space for God. I try, but usually I find something to distract myself with – mainly technology. In the podcast, Marty recalls a time when he was challenged to go find a quiet place to sit with God, all he could take was a sack lunch. He mentions the first time he did this it took hours – HOURS – to be still enough to hear from God. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like I have hours to just sit and wait.
Advances in technology allow us to have things instantaneously. If you want hot food, you can go through the drive thru or pop it in the microwave; need an answer to a question, google is there; too hot, turn on the air conditioner; etc. So when challenged to sit until you hear from God, I am scared.
I don’t know about you but I don’t feel like I have hours to sit. I feel like that time is wasted (I am a huge multi-tasker and want to be efficient with my time.)
Sit until you hear something.
But I can’t even sit still through a two hour long movie. (My apologies to those who sit next to me!)
Sit until you hear something.
My brain doesn’t sit still. A friend once told me I had a Rolodex in my brain and can bring up memories, details, people, numbers, etc from years past. So if I see one thing, it triggers something in my memory and down the rabbit hole I go.
Sit until you hear something.
Marty gave an example of letting go of balloons. While sitting with God, you hold balloons representing anxieties, responsibilities, etc on your mind and slowly you let those go until you are holding just one. Usually the last one is the thing God trying to tell you something… but you must sit until you hear something.
** I have not completed this challenge, yet! I know! Why am I even writing this blog? It is something I want to do soon.**
The balloon analogy really struck a chord with me. I feel most of the time I hold more balloons than used to make the house in the movie UP fly. How I have not floated away is beyond me. But when you sit with God, you knowingly give up the balloons, maybe a few at a time or maybe one at a time.
Sit until you hear something.
I have realized my balloons are my safety. I am able to hide behind them. This challenge is a little scary. If I don’t have any balloons to hold onto, what do I do? If I let them go, how do I not chase after them? When they are all gone, will I be exposed? Who am I if I am not doing a million different things? Can I really sit that long?
I always have more questions than answers. One way my brain is always going. However; I want to pass this challenge along to you. Will you go and sit with God until you hear something? Practice solitude, Sabbath, and silence. These one at a time are great practices to hear from God, but what if you combine them all?
While I have yet to complete this challenge, it did cause me to pause and do some art. Art is a way I have learned to connect with God in the last year or so in Cambodia. God is a creative God and when we create, we have a special connection with Him.
Challenge: Find new ways to create space for God to work
Questions: What are ways you create space? How does God talk to you? What are your favorite ways to connect with him?
If you want more ideas on how to create space or are looking for a new podcast, I highly recommend BEMA Discipleship by Marty Solomon and Brent Billings. To find out more you can visit, bemadiscipleship.com.
