Listening and Asking

Oct 29 2014 Listening and Asking

Listen, Listen To Me…

Why do you spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.”

Isaiah 55:2

I went to my high school reunion a few months ago (memories of leg warmers and big 80s hair running through my head!). The evening was filled with laughter, funny stories, and reconnecting with old pals.

I also spent much of the evening listening. Under a full moon and San Diego breezes, I heard about dreams gone bad, regrets, and profound emptiness.

Maybe The Lord put hurting and open people in my path that night for His purposes: to pray for them and for me to search my heart. I believe so.

As I drove home after midnight, I prayed for these dear people and pondered my regrets, emptiness, and dreams gone bad.

Tears falling on the steering wheel, I cried out to The Lord- overcome and overwhelmed with gratitude. Remembering how he saved me and filled me. The girl who told God she had an aching hole that only He could fill.

The following day, I poured through the Book of Isaiah—my go-to book lately—and discovered Isaiah 55:2.

This scripture asks a poignant question, “Why do you spend money on what is not bread and labor on what does not satisfy?”

God asks Israel this question via His prophet Isaiah. The people were nearing the end of their captivity in Babylon. They were imitating their captors- seeking to eat what was not bread and laboring in work that did not satisfy them.

The prophet’s words are relevant to our culture today. Thousands of years later, what questions might we ask?

Why am I working so hard and spending all this money to look impossibly perfect?

Why can’t I stop maxing out my credit card every month?

Why am I still struggling with overeating?

And so it goes….

Isaiah says, “Listen, listen to me…” Are we listening?

HEAR  what Jesus says in Mathew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

My filling happened when I was twenty. But there are days (even seasons) when I feel vacant and seek the wrong food to satisfy me. We, like the people of Isaiah’s day, are surrounded by idols and false gods. Often, we turn to these instead of the only One who can gratify us.

What are you hungering and thirsting for?

Join me today in eating what is GOOD—filling our souls with the richest of His fare. Let’s pray fervently for those dear ones who haven’t tasted The Bread of Life yet.

Yes, Lord, we will Listen, Listen to You…