Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Chicken Soup for the Soul cocreators Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen with Chris Karcher
ABC's Dr. Timothy Johnson,
Finding God in the Questions, and Chris
.
Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator, and Chris Karcher
Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Listen, surrender, and trust
People have trouble pronouncing and spelling my last name: Karcher.
“Archer with a K,” I explain.
“Kartcher,” they write.
“K-archer,” I respond.
“Carcher,” they write.
I spell it, “K-a-r-c-h-e-r.”
I watch them write, “K-a-r-t-c-h-n-e-r.”
They are not deaf. They hear, but are they listening?
To live the graceful life, we are radically dependent on listening to, surrendering to, and trusting in the Holy Spirit. This is a moment-by-moment choice. Our problem is not lack of wisdom; it is lack of trust. We hear but we do not listen. We know but we do not believe. Surrender frightens us because it means giving up control.
We are not as powerful as we think we are when it comes to working out our lives. Much of what happens is beyond our control. While we always have a choice about how to respond in a given situation, we cannot control external circumstances.
Calling on the power of the Holy Spirit helps you administer grace. An “I can do it myself” determination changes to a prayer—“I cannot do it alone, please help.” This helps you move into a more loving way of behaving. God gives you “the power to do what pleases him,” according to Philippians.[i] Of course, this assumes the person doing the asking and listening has a healthy conscience and is of sound mind; this will not work for someone with an unhealthy conscience or a sociopath.
Proverbs says, “Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go.”[ii]
How do you know what you hear is God’s voice working through the Holy Spirit? Sometimes it’s not easy to know. It took a burning bush to get Moses’ attention. Theologian John Wesley said, “Do not hastily ascribe all things to God. Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions, or revelations to be from God. They may be from Him, they may be from nature, they may be from the devil.”[iii]
A friend’s fiancé identified himself by both first and last name whenever he called her, even though they were engaged. My friend and I found this amusing. Why? Because when you have a close relationship with someone, you learn to recognize his or her voice.
When God is your friend, through a personal relationship, you will recognize His voice more readily. God may communicate with you in a variety of ways: Scripture, prayer, feelings of peace, physical discomfort, “coincidences” (divine incidents), the words of another spoken at just the right moment, a page in a book, music, nature, and daily incidents—both ordinary and extraordinary.
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Copyright © 2003 by Christine N. Karcher. Chris Karcher is the author of Relationships of Grace, Amazing Things I Know About You, and Relationships of Grace Workbook. To order books and tapes, schedule Chris for speaking engagements, or subscribe to Chris’ newsletter, visit www.relationshipsofgrace.com, email order@relationshipsofgrace.com, or call 1-877-GET-GRACE (1-877-438-4722).