Listen

When Jacob woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, The Lord is definitely in this place, but I didn’t know it. He was terrified and thought, This sacred place is awesome. It’s none other than God’s house and the entrance to heaven.

Genesis 28:16-17

Think

I believe God is always speaking. But the moments we can hear God are rare for us. I think the problem is that our lives are so full of stuff – business, work, school, life – we have forgotten how to hear God speak.

One of the definitions of the word sacred is this: connected with God. Jacob recognizes the place where he dreamt his Stairway-to-Heaven-dream as a sacred place. He felt a connection to God where he heard a word from the Lord. The job is for us to find sacred moments in our lives and to pause when we notice them so we can hear what God wants to tell us.

There are a few places this still happens naturally for teenagers. One of them is at a week of camp. At camp, we are away from all the distractions – our phone, our friends, our routine – so God can be heard. My challenge today is for us to be right where we are long enough to hear God’s voice.

David Burroughs

Pray

God, help me to listen for your voice today. Help me to turn off all the noise so that just for a moment, I can hear you. Tell me who you want me to be. Tell me who you want me to bless this week. I am trying to listen. Thank you for your grace to me. Amen.

Go

Take a moment and breathe in these words: “Suddenly the Lord was saying, I am with you now, and will protect you wherever you go.”