Beginning With the End in Mind

When I was teaching, I gradually learned that I had to begin a lesson with the end uppermost in my mind:  Why did I want the students to learn this?  What would they be expected to do with this information?  and finally, I had to ask:  How can they learn this material?  (which is a different question from "How can I teach this material?"

If we approach our lives with the end in mind, I find that a lot of potential problems can be avoided or at least lessened.  The "end" of our lives on this earth will usher us into another kind of life that consists of communion with God and with one another.  So along the way, in this life, we must become the kind of people who can enjoy communion with God and with one another.  And then, of course, the question arises:  How can we learn to be the kind of person who enjoys communing with God and with others? 

Immediately, we are faced with so many obstacles to learning to be that kind of person.  First of all, God seems to many people to be somewhat-- if not entirely -- distant and not involved in our daily lives.  That inherent lie of Satan, a common belief throughout all mankind, must be "educated" out of our system.  Until we learn to communicate and to receive communication with God, we will not learn to communicate with one another either.

St. Paul tells us that "in Him, we live and move and have our very being," and yet we are not aware of God's presence in our lives.  Yet, He is waiting, waiting, waiting to let us know that He is here.  Our problem is that we cannot seem to "make space" in our lives for Him.  We are trained to multi-task to get more done; if we are not busy with responsibilities and things to do, we keep ourselves busy with entertainment -- radio, tv, movies, games, exercise, hobbies.  Who makes time to listen to God communicating with us?  If some idea goes through our minds that might be the Voice of God speaking to us, we question where that idea came from.  We imagine it came from our own imaginations, and we dismiss it without reflection.

To begin communing with God, all that is necessary is to "Be still, and know that I am God."  He will do the rest, for He is more anxious to speak with us than we are with Him.  In the beginning of Isaiah (chapter 8),  Isaiah tells the people of Jerusalem:  "When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God?  Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?  ....Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and looking upward, will curse their king and their God.  Then they will look toward the earth and see only darkness and distress and fearful gloom and they will be thrust into utter darkness."

A great contrast to Isaiah's image is Psalm 25:  Good and upright is the Lord;

Therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them his way....

 

Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord?

He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

He will spend his days in prosperity,

and his descendants will inherit the land.

The Lord confides in those who fear him;

He makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever on the Lord,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.

 

If someone could only convince us that God wants to, and is able to, "confide in those who fear Him," I wonder how much "darkness and distress and fearful gloom" could be avoided in our lives.  How then can we make space for God in our lives?  How can we make room for the 'still small voice' that Elijah heard whispering in the cave?  If we never want to hear God speaking to us in the quiet places of our hearts, we will probably not want to hear Him speaking to us after our death either. 

 

Jesus said, "My sheep know My Voice, and they will not follow another."  I pray that each one of us learn to hear His Voice guiding and teaching and leading us this day.