Have you ever listened to a sermon or read a passage of scripture and immediately thought of someone else who needs to hear this? Sometimes that’s a good thing. It may be just the right word of encouragement someone needs in the moment. Other times it may be more critical as the scripture points out a particular flaw we tend to see in others but rarely in ourselves.

Have you ever noticed how everybody else sins differently than you? As a pastor of a recovery ministry once said, “we all have our favorite flavor of sin.” One person may prefer sweet chocolate covered gossip while another leans toward the saltiness of unforgiveness or holding grudges. Some sin boldly knowing God will forgive them while others pretend they barely sin at all, especially when compared to others who do far worse. Yet we rarely criticize or judge someone else who shares our favorite flavor…

…Why do we see an angel of the Lord waking Elijah twice from his rest? Why not simply move from the victory on Mt. Carmel to his encounter with God on Mt. Hermon?

The answer comes in verse 7. The second time Elijah is awoken, the angel says, “Eat something, because you have a difficult road ahead of you.”…

…But God doesn’t do anything miraculous to fix Elijah’s problems in that moment. Instead, the angel simply awakens him twice to eat and regain his strength, and then allows him to rest again before beginning his journey. Eat and sleep. Sounds like the miracle cure our grandmother’s prescribed for every cold, flu, or other sickness we had as children. Eat and sleep. It’s so ordinary. How could this be all God offers Elijah in this, the lowest moment of his life?…

…There is something extremely disorienting and even frightening about silence. Even when we say we want peace and quiet, we don’t really know how to process true silence. Given the ongoing chatter in our heads, most of us have never actually experienced true silence.

That’s where prayer comes in. The most common definition of prayer is “talking to God.” That may be true, but simply talking to God does not make for a very good relationship. Relationships require far more listening than talking, and yet it seems in our spiritual lives, we expect God to do all the listening. God listens to our thanks and praise, but God also listens to our endless complaints and demands and excuses. It is true that God is the best listener we will ever know. But if we really want a relationship with God, we’ve got to learn to listen too.

That’s why silence is so important…

American folk writer Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, once said,

It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

He’s got a point. As Christians, we are well practiced at debating the most minute verses of scripture while completely missing the point of the whole story. We are quick to quote chapters and verses out of context to reinforce our argument or position on any number of issues which the Biblical writers knew or cared nothing about, while at the same time not even being aware of the surrounding context of that verse. We are quick to judge others for breaking some Old Testament law while we ourselves still can’t seem to figure out how to love our neighbors as ourselves or to forgive as God has forgiven us…

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asks the blind man. Bartimaeus didn’t ask for money or food or any other basic necessity as he had every day on the streets. Instead, Bartimaeus asked for the impossible. He asked for the deepest longing of his heart, not just to get by for another day, but to see clearly for the rest of his life.

Jesus blessed this man’s faith and restored his sight. Today as we begin this new year, Jesus is asking us the same question… “What do you want me to do for you?”…