What does Spirit want us to know? Infinite Intelligence, or God Force is always around us every instant of our lives. Yet, when we open our religious service every Sunday we do an Invocation. Invoking means asking or inviting God into our service, our mind, body, soul. If Spirit is always with us why do we have to invite it into our services?
We invite God because while we know we are never alone God does not force into our lives. God stands back waiting while we fumble along doing things our own way. That is what we call free will. It is the manner in which we learn life lessons. Then, when we aren’t able to find the answers or have made a mess of things we finally ask God for help. Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to ask for help in the beginning?
Look around you. Think about when you were younger and knew it all – didn’t want your parents telling you what to do.
God is like our parents – wanting the best for us but allowing us the opportunity to try things out in our own way. You who are parents knew when your child was ready to make a bad decision and you would have done anything to keep them from getting “hurt” – but they did it their way and suffered the consequences. You also knew the more you tried to lead them in the right way, perhaps spoke against someone you knew was a “bad influence in their lives” the more they defended that person and went the wrong direction. Spirit does that with us – all of our lives. Somehow most of us never learn to ask first rather than blunder on with our first reaction to a situation. How much better it would be if we asked Spirit first, thought things through and then acted rather than reacting impulsively all the time.
We are back to our Hot Line to God. Everyone has one of those, our own 911 line to Spirit. No one has a better or closer way of reaching the Infinite than each of us. Do you keep your line open to send and receive or is your line clogged up with interference and static? Get yourself out of the way. The more frequently you request help from God first, the more often you receive the correct impression and avoid putting your foot in your mouth or making a bad choice.
Sometimes doing nothing – allowing things to work out on their own is the best choice. We don’t always have to do everything. Maybe we should take a break – just sit back and let others do their thing before jumping in to take charge.
Know your strengths – know when you should lead and when it is best to follow. Everyone has individual strengths and each persons’ are different. Allow others to use their abilities also. Depending on interacting well with others is an excellent trait. It is also the secret of compromise. Choose your battles wisely. If things are not important learn to give in to others. If it doesn’t make a real difference, let them have their way. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you should never compromise your own integrity. Be true to yourself, your beliefs and your own impressions. God is there always to work with you in all situations. Be kind, try to make someone feel good. By letting God lead you can make wise decisions, make others feel better about themselves and avoid many of the bumps along life’s path.
Maya Angelou probably said it best, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
By leaning on God and considering others we can act and live more meaningfully.
God bless.
