Underground, plenty goes on before ever the green shoot
rises; before ever the volcanic fire overflows and the grey plume rises; before
the tsunami sweeps inland and destroys.
Likewise, underground and in the secret haunts of the heart, while the
capital of a Christian home and habits carry a young woman outwardly along in a
life of compliance upholding the aura of the Christ walk, things are happening which
eventually will become overtly visible in either a life of beautiful abandonment
to Christ or a life of compromise and ultimate betrayal of His ways. How deeply we need to know our children, to
recognize the signs of the heart! What
follows are a few reflections on girls’ ways when the secret places begin to harbor
the world; a subtle course, imperceptible as the young girls grow up in the
church.
That which has been described to me recently, and that which
I have also observed on a number of occasions, is “a constant stream of foolish
talk”; it seems like nothing more than a
talkative outgoing preteen girl but today I find more going on there. First, endless chatter of foolish things
denotes the overflow of the heart, as Scripture says. Second, it inoculates a girl against both
listening and learning/observing. Third,
it elevates her thoughts to a place they should not occupy, especially when she
is in the presence of older girls (as she can look and learn and be infused
with what they have to teach), or friends (to whom she should be practicing a
one-anothering, esteeming others better than herself). Soon, her thoughts become a type of
self-expression that gains an undue importance, because it is what is getting
airspace and is being heard by herself and others, which aggrandizes her
careless, empty, foolish thoughts to an elevation inappropriate to a young
girl, inappropriate for a noble and gracious young woman, inappropriate to a
friend, and inappropriate to a Christian.
She slips into a sphere where she cannot easily be influenced by godly
older girls or women because her space is filled with her own opinions being
thought and aired, so that she no longer really notices that which is “of good
report, praiseworthy”.
When a Christian is inoculated against listening to others, only
hearing her own constant voice, she will not be fitted in her habits to listen
to God. In Isaiah, God says, “Listen
carefully to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in
abundance. Incline your ear and come to
me…” Habits are formed in early years by
response to parents first, and then to preachers/teachers and godly influences
second. These habits transfer in the
teen years to a relationship directly with God.
I think we must ask regarding our children, Do they listen with their
hearts to us—earnestly seeking then to implement what we have said? Do they listen with their hearts to the
preacher, to conference speakers, to wise teachers? To wise books? For young ladies, do they listen eagerly to
their mother’s friends, revere them in a respectful and appropriate manner, and
take in what they say as so much treasure meant for them? How about older girls in their lives? Do they quietly watch and look to emulate?
“Listen carefully” implies practiced silence; “eat what is
good” implies an action then embracing good things, mostly centered on the things
of Christ, of the character of God, of His good blessings to us. If we are not increasing in our appetites for
these things we cannot actively embrace them, and our soul will not delight in
them.
God goes on to say, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and my ways are not your ways…for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my thoughts higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your
thoughts.” If young girls do not have a
sense of others having thoughts worth
hearing, apart from themselves, how will they habitually be prepared to seek
out God’s thoughts? If their constant
companion is the speaking of their own thought, how will the idea that
Someone’s thoughts are higher than their thoughts even have an entrance
point? If they are so busy saying empty
thoughts that create a cacophony in their soul, they will be unfit for the life
of a Christian and the life of a quiet woman whose gentle spirit is precious in
the sight of God.
continued tomorrow...
continued tomorrow...
-being silly together-
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