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The Crummy Visit

By Guy K. Henry

www.GuyHenry.Com

 I enjoy my almost daily trips to the restaurant across the road from my house. It is more than a time to eat food that is better than anything I can throw together. It is a time to visit with the people in my small community.

The other day I was sitting in my usual spot, enjoying a bacon-mushroom cheeseburger. After a few moments I heard the jangle of the chimes that hang over the entrance. I turned to see who was coming into the restaurant.

A smile grew on my face when I recognized my friend Glenn. It had been a long time since I had a chance to talk with him. I was very glad that he had come at the same time I was there.

I lifted my hand and waved to Glenn. He must have been concentrating on something, because he didn’t wave back. He went straight for the chips and cookies.

I turned around in my seat and waited for Glenn to finish picking out a bag of chips. He must have been very hungry, because he still hadn’t noticed me.

Glenn selected a bag of cheese doodles. When he did, I called out, “Hey Glenn!”

He didn’t answer. Instead he moved to the cookies and picked up a giant oatmeal cookie.

Now I tried waving again. Still, he did not see me. He must have been in quite a hurry because now he sped to the drink cooler. His eyes darted back and forth over the shelves searching for the perfect cure for his thirst. I bet if he had looked in the reflection of the glass door, he’d have been able to see me, still waving.

Glenn then took his not too healthy dinner to the cash register. He fished around his pockets for some money. I waited until he paid, and then tried waving and calling out, “Hey! Glenn!”

 That wasn’t a very good visit, was it?

Technically, if someone had asked me if I’d seen Glenn recently, I’d have to answer, “yes.”

If someone asked me if I had talked to Glenn, I’d have to answer, “yes,” since I did call out to him.

But did we visit? Did we spend time together? Did we share the goings on in our lives? No, no, and no.

Honestly, being ignored doesn’t feel too nice. Glenn probably had his reasons. I am guessing he was in a hurry. As well, his mind was probably filled with what had happened that day, and what he had to do later.

How often do we do that very same thing to God? How long do we make God wait between our visits? What excuses do we have for not spending time with God?

Just as I expected more from Glenn, God expects something more from us. He too wants to fellowship with us.

The reason for this is that God is living. Very often we treat God like He was a computer. We think that we are doing well of we attend the right number of church meetings, volunteer at the right times, and walk along that old ‘straight and narrow’. We act like all of that is data that is fed into a computer, and out pops a good report card. That is plain wrong, yet it is so easy to slip into that way of thinking. Even a good, busy Christian needs to be on guard for this attitude.

Are we walking through our daily activities and not giving God a second glance? Are we even turning up at church, and not personally opening up our hearts to God? It’s a tricky trap!

We can fight this tendency by allowing three things into our busy schedule.

#1 Private Prayer

It is often difficult to understand what 1 Thessalonians 5:17 means when it says, “Pray without ceasing.” Some suppose that we should be on our knees with hands folded all day long. This would make things like driving very difficult. Rather it seems to ask us to be in continuous dialog with God. All choices should be done after consulting the Lord.

That spirit is conveyed in Romans 12:12 “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;” I love that word ‘instant’. That means that no matter how hectic things have become, we should always be ‘instantly’ ready to pray.

#2 Read God’s Word

The Bible is unlike any other book you’ll find in the library. It is highly unlikely that your mathematics book will be able to guide your life in any meaningful direction. It would not be reasonable to expect to find answers to life’s questions contained in the Guinness Book of World Records. The Bible is God’s message to us on how He desires our lives to be. It contains His love and help.

I know many who comment how the Bible seems to be written with them in mind. I believe that God brings us to relevant parts of the Bible, and uses the words to minister specifically to our hearts.

2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” If we are to truly know who God is, and what He wants, we must read the book He wrote for us.

Today there is little valid reason to not read God’s word. For example, on account of a head injury, I have difficulty reading the printed word. That isn’t an excuse. I have a choice of having my computer read the scriptures, or of listening to the scriptures on audiotape. If I didn’t have access to either of those methods, I could ask someone to read it to me.

#3 Be quiet

We live in a noisy world. We are told that in order to succeed in it we must be continually busy. Sometimes we apply this to our relationship with God.

I worked for many years at a Christian summer camp. Near the entrance to their chapel was a sign that quoted from Psalms 46:10. It said, “Be still, and know that I am God”

This is contrary to the world’s wisdom. It turns out that being busy, even with Godly things, can obscure God’s voice in our lives. God’s guidance will be very difficult to perceive in the midst of wild activity. It is entirely possible to be doing ‘Godly work’ and march right past the Lord.

It is essential to regularly retreat from the fray and allow God to speak to us.

Elijah found this out in 1 Kings 19:12. He said, “And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” He was only able to hear the Lord’s wonderful message when all was quiet. He described God’s voice not as a booming thunder, but as a ‘still small voice’.

If we can do these three things, Pray, Read, Get Quiet before the Lord, then we will have a great visit, not a crummy one like I had with Glenn!

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