OPEN All the Time!

It was a GREAT morning to sleep with the rain coming down gently, but I finally decided that I needed to get up. After I prepared to get on the elliptical machine (morning routine), I opened the bedroom door to get moving. All I heard was a loud noise which I couldn’t decipher at first. Was it the AC kicking in? When I walked into the hallway, I looked toward the kitchen to see that the door was open. It was the rain I was hearing as it was coming down harder now. It was loud!

Mike had opened up the house because the temperature was lower outside than in the house. We love to have the windows and doors open whenever possible not only for the fresh air but also because of the sounds of nature.

Well, I certainly received a loud sound from the harder rain. It was like nothing I had heard in a long time. Either doors were closed previously or the rain came during the night, but this definitely made an impact on me.

OK, God, what now? As I used the elliptical machine, the thought of the “loud rain” continued to swirl through my mind and spirit. I loved the sound, but I wouldn’t have heard it to this degree if the doors had not been open. OPEN! That’s the word God gave me.

We hear sounds every day, all day. Sounds of nature; sounds of our environment; sounds of people talking. Are we “open” to hearing them or is it background noise to us? Are we receptive to these sounds and listening to them? Do they mean anything to us?

The sounds of downtown Clarksville remind me of growing up here – the trucks traveling through, horns honking, fire trucks rushing to answer a call, dogs barking.

Do we hear the 15+ different kinds of birds chirping in our neighborhoods? Do we hear the car/truck sounds around town? Do we hear what people are saying to us? Maybe we do; maybe we don’t.

I believe that God is asking if we are OPEN to hearing Him. Has He become a background noise? Has His Word become boring? Has He not made himself known to us in dramatic ways like the shows on TV do to get our attention?

God wants us to be OPEN to Him - through His Word, conversation with other Christians, hearing the Word of God preached/shared. If we are OPEN to Him, then we can absorb His Truth and produce good fruit just as the rains from today will produce good fruit.

Every drop of today’s precious rain has soaked in. Don’t you think God wants us to be OPEN to His every precious Word so that every one can soak in to us?

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT

Let us all be OPEN and ready whenever and however God sends His Word to us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Rachel