Today, I had twelve party trays to make in twelve hours. Wow! No wonder I am whipped. My partner and I managed to whip out eight of the trays in about four hours. That is quite an accomplishment, in case anyone cares. It was then that things fell apart. It all started with my partner saying, we have till seven; it was only twelve then. My instinct told me to keep plugging and finish the party trays before we moved on to other tasks because time has a habit of slipping away. However, I am not always the most powerful person so I caved and we put off the other four trays. Then things got worse; we had other customers and other tasks to accomplish. Suddenly it was three, and we still had three platters to do. It was right about this time that I hated my decision to wait on the other trays. I face that frequently because I have a habit of second guessing myself and listening to the wrong voices. Often in my spiritual life, the same thing happens, I know what God says, but sometimes I listen to the voice of the world.
God will say forgive, but the world says to hold a grudge!
God will say lend a hand, but the world will tell you too busy.
God will say serve your spouse or your kids, but the world will say it's not worth it.
I have a constant battle within me to listen to the right voices. Most of the time, I listen to the voice of God, but not all the time. The problem is that I can be selfish, and I don't want to hear the voice of God because I might not like what I hear.
I don't want to forgive.
I don't want to serve.
I don't want to lend.
So instead, I listen to the voices around me saying.
Do what you want.
You deserve to be happy.
They should serve me.
Don't do something for someone who will not do anything for you.
Then the consequences are much more severe that just missing an order, or scrambling to finish the order instead of finishing with time to spare. When I listen to the wrong voices spiritually, I am always lead into sin, or rather, I walk into sin, and my walk with God gets derailed. I miss blessings, and I miss fellowship with God.
Fortunately, there is a cure. If or when I find that I've listened to the wrong voices I can go to my Heavenly Father and ask forgiveness and get back on track spiritually. I can mentally prepare for the times when I am tempted and lured into the world's sound system by knowing my master's voice.
Today was not as bad as it could have been and I am aware that I may face this giant again. Next time, however, I'll be ready. I'll put cotton in my ears; say lalalalala I'm not listening; I'll do something, anything.
Who will you listen to? Me,I'm listening to God.
