Gardening the Soul, Part 5

The Habit of Drinking

Isaiah's repeated calls to "come" and to "listen" to God imply a recurrent showering of our lives with God's truth. One recent summer my state had been in an extended drought that left the ground rock-hard. Then when a thunderstorm dumped a quick, heavy rain, the ground's hardness prevented much of the water from being absorbed. The plants would have benefited more from a slow, all-day soaker.

Similarly, it is the slow, steady soaking of God's word that most effectively waters my life. If I go for long periods of time without drinking from God's word, I become increasingly hardened to God's voice. The prophet Isaiah warned: Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. (v.6)

A friend of author Philip Yancey wanted to know if God would forgive him if he dissolved his fifteen-year marriage that had produced three children and no crushing problems. Yancey didn't answer the question immediately, being afraid that a "Yes" answer would only strengthen his friend's resolve to end his marriage. As Yancey thought and prayed, he finally answered:

Can God forgive you? Of course. You know the Bible. [But] what we have to go through to commit sin distances us from God—we change in the very act of rebellion—and there is no guarantee we will ever come back. You ask me about forgiveness now, but will you even want it later, especially if it involves repentance?

Sin packs the ground of our hearts, forming a hardpan between God and us. The longer our rebellion, the thicker that barrier becomes. Yancey's friend steeled his heart toward God and abandoned his family. As yet, there has been no evidence of any softening toward God. Only land that drinks in the rain often falling on it . . . receives the blessing of God. (Heb.6:7) It is the habit of drinking we must establish.

Gardening the Soul, Part 4

Listening to God

Isaiah's invitation to come to God 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?"

“Are you deaf?!”

"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 pleaded with 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 what God is saying to me.

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, but 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 similarly? We banish his convicting words from our conscious thoughts, pretending that we aren't really hearing his unsettling voice. We want to cling to our fumbling, though familiar, life. Ignorance is bliss . . . for a while.

Have you been plugging up your ears so that you can mute God’s voice?  When you are truly listening you are telling God, “I will do whatever you want me to do. I will go wherever you want me to go. I will think whatever you want me to think.”

Gardening the Soul: Part 3

Watering Your Life

Isaiah was confident that pouring God's word into our lives would cause them to blossom:

  As the rain and snow fall from heaven,  
  and do not return without watering the earth,
  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 of watering the land. Water falls as rain or snow, is soaked up by the ground, absorbed by plants, transpires into the atmosphere, and again, descends as rain or snow. 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, it will achieve the purpose for which he sent it--producing fruitful lives.

Dr. Larry Crabb believes we have radically changed our view of how people bud and flourish. Instead of each person being a "fallen soul hungry for God," each person is a "psychological self capable of being damaged.” The old way seeks healing through an intimate bond with Christ and his word. The new way seeks healing by unraveling the complex dynamics of the soul—something only "professionals" can accomplish. 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.

I know a woman who has spent years rummaging in the murky memories of her adolescence trying to recall the details of suspected sexual abuse. And some therapists believe that memories can be retrieved from one and two year-old children. Is that really possible?

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 leave 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.