Over the last month I have been working my way through The Art of Listening Prayer, by Seth Barnes. Not only has it been a blessing to have the Seth guide me through his devotional, it has also evolved my understanding of how I communicate and listen. In today’s post, I want to share with you below how I’ve learned to listen to God’s voice through taking physical action.Just last week, while visiting my sister in San Diego, I decided to take a morning run to Kensington High a few miles away from their apartment. My ankle has been hurting from a recent tear in my left ankle, and I am trying to get prepared for a marathon the team will be running in Vittoria (May 12th). About 4 miles into my run, I arrived at Kensington’s outdoor track and my ankle was starting to really hurt from the impact of just 4 miles. I entered the stadium and as my feet hit mondo, the sun rose over me illuminating the ground. All of a sudden I felt a second wind of energy surge through my body that somehow seemed to loosen up my ankle and my head from things I wanted to get done that day.
As I continued my run around the track, I was reminded how I have spent well over 10,000 hours training on a track just like this for the Decathlon at Notre Dame. How each day, I was energized by the daily training, making progress towards my vision of becoming a world class runner. I was reminded how much God has blessed me with those memories, how much he taught me in those hours of training about hard work, perseverance, focus, maintenance of self, and communication with my coach!
Then it occurred to me that my experiences running and training are a mirror of how I experience Him. By showing up every day to work and create, through good communication with the Lord, by movement, He will reveal His vision for me. Active Listening is how I experience the Lord. By action, God will use me to fulfill his vision for my life.
I continued my run painlessly around the track for another 2 miles before returning home to start my day.
I continued my run painlessly around the track for another 2 miles before returning home to start my day.
