By: Donna Martin
“I thought you might want this card back,” my new friend said as she handed me an envelope that was addressed to her in my handwriting. “This is my correct address, but the card inside is to someone else. I thought you might want it back.”
I thanked her and apologized with much chagrin. I remembered that when I was about to mail the two cards that I had written to two different people at the same a little voice inside my head had whispered, “Did you put the correct cards in the correct envelopes?” I had dismissed the thought with another thought, “I always check before I seal the envelope.” I was in a careless hurry.
Shortly before that time, Mike and I were leaving to go see our son and his family in Houston. As we walked out the door Mike said, “I feel like I’ve forgotten something.” I named off all of the usual things that we sometimes forget, but he reassured me that he had packed all those things. We should have gone back into the apartment to check, but we were already behind schedule. The two minutes that it would have taken to recheck the apartment were a lot shorter than the 8 extra hours that he had to spend driving back home and then back to Houston when he realized 5 miles from Houston the very important thing that he had forgotten that could not be bought in Houston!
That little voice, that intuition, that sixth sense – if we always listened to it, things would be a lot better. Sometimes it would keep us out of an argument. Other times it would keep us from hurting someone’s feelings. Many times it would save us time or even heartache. But we get too busy, we’re too rushed, we think it would take too much time; we are trying to do too much so we don’t listen. And then at other times, we hear it; we know it is right; but we refuse to follow it. Perhaps the reason is because of our pride, our sin, our selfishness.
Psalm 46:10 tells us to “Be still and know that I am God.” God often speaks to us in a still small voice, in a “feeling” an intuition. But we frequently miss what He says, because we do not do take time to “be still” and listen to what God has to say.
This week as you go about your daily activities, take time to be still. Find a quiet spot where you can spend time alone with God and just listen. Ask Him to speak to you and watch throughout your day how he will direct you if you stay close to Him and listen.
The Martins currently present “Happy Together” Marriage Enrichment Events for churches and organizations. To schedule an event call Michael at 940-735-1515. They are certified “Prepare/Enrich” Facilitators and are available to work with couples on an individual basis using the “Prepare/Enrich Assessment.” They publish a weekly “Happy Together” Blog about family and marriage issues. You can order copies of their new books Dancing With Death and 366 Tidbits We Have Learned in 14,610 Days of Marriage, read, and subscribe to their “Happy Together” Blog by logging onto the Martin’s website at www.happytogethermarriages.com.