Gardening the Soul: Listening to God

Isaiah's invitation to come to God's feast has a catch--we  must come with open ears:  Listen, listen to me, . . . Give ear . . . hear me . . . God sounds like a frustrated parent.

"Listen up!"
"You're not listening to me."
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Look at me while I am talking to you."
"We better go to the doctor and have your hearing checked!"

I tell my child, "You're not listening to me." He complains that he did, perfectly repeating my words. But I'm not satisfied because I know he hasn't really grasped the meaning of my words. This was the problem in Isaiah's day and why he literally chided them: in your hearing, hear! As God's child I can read my Bible daily. I can gain mountains of Biblical knowledge. I can memorize long sections of God's word. But I may still be deaf to God's true message.

Katie Cocker, in the Lee Smith novel, The Devil's Dream, was a country singer who married her capable but crooked manager. Wayne was a violent drunkard whose all-consuming passion was to turn Katie into a star by any means. Soon after Wayne was arrested for his money-raising schemes, Katie went to the hospital to recover from nervous exhaustion. As she laid in bed, she could see more clearly what sort of man she had married:

I had to admit, in my heart, that I had known, someplace deep down where I was not admitting it, that he was up to no good. I knew he was breaking the law. I reckon I had come to think Wayne was above the law, or beyond it some way. But I also knew better. You always know everything, don't you? You won't let yourself know you know it, a lot of times you can't let yourself know it, because you can't stand to know what you know.

The fame and the fortune caused Katie to shut her ears to the rumblings of her husband's corrupt life. She muffled her conscience so that it wouldn’t threaten her "good" life. Don’t we treat God this way? We banish any serious thought about the real-life meaning and application of his Truth because we want to cling to our fumbling, though familiar, life. Ignorance is bliss . . . for a while.

Gardening the Soul: A Fruitful Life

No one begins life thinking: "I want to make a mess out of my life." But many end up with barren lives because they don't know or follow God's way of producing fruit:

As the rain and snow come down from heaven,

  and do not return to it without watering the earth

   and making it bud and flourish, . . .

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

  it will not return to me empty,

  but will accomplish what I desire

  and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  (55:10,11)                                         

There is an endless cycle. Water falls as rain or snow, it is soaked up by the ground, absorbed by plants, transpires into the atmosphere, and  descends, again, as moisture. This cycle has its intended impact, causing the earth to bud and flourish. This prospering of the earth is a picture for us: As the rain . . . so is my word. God showers the earth with his word. But before cycling back to God, he claims: It will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. It is God's word that produces fruitful lives.

But Dr. Larry Crabb warns that many Christians have radically changed their view of how people bud and flourish. Instead of each person being a "fallen soul hungry for God," each is a "psychological self capable of being damaged.” The former seeks healing through an intimate bond with Christ and his word. The latter seeks healing by unraveling the complex dynamics of the soul—something that often requires professional help. Dr. Elizabeth Loftus explains the goal of most modern therapy:

  The central question—“Who am I?"—has been reduced by modern psychotherapy to "how did I get this way?" To understand who we are and why we are the way we are, many therapists encourage us to go back to our childhoods and find out what happened to us there. If we are in pain, we are told there must be a cause; if we cannot locate the cause, we have not looked deep enough. And on goes the search to find the truth of our lives in the memories we have and the memories we have lost.

A woman I know has spent years rummaging in the murky memories of her adolescence trying to recall the details of suspected sexual abuse. Is all of this digging wise?

Though the past can certainly enlighten the present, the dominant view of the Bible is that healing occurs when we develop a love for God through his word. Have you felt rejected by an absent father? Jesus promised: I will never fail you or forsake you. (Heb.13:5) Have you been ridiculed for a physical flaw? God's word informs you that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. (I Sam.16:7) Were your needs ignored after your parents' disturbing divorce? Jesus encourages you that your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Mt.6:8) As Isaiah promised, watering our lives with God's word will unfailingly produce a fruitful life.