Quotes That Make Me Ponder: The Sacred Way

I have been on a slightly manic phase of reading instead of writing.  So for the next few entries I will be sharing quotes and thoughts from where I am reading.    I am in the middle of The Sacred Way by Tony Jones. I am in the middle of a season when it seems like every book that I run across is about prayer.  So I this book came my way...wonder what the message is?

Here is the quote:

In the quest for God old habits are hard to break, and no one is easily weaned from his own opinions; but if you rely on your own reasoning and ability rather than on the virtue of submission to Jesus Christ, you will but seldom and slowly attain wisdom. For God wills that we become perfectly obedient to himself, and that we transcend mere reason on the wings of burning love for him. Thomas à Kempis


Jones, Tony (2010-12-07). The Sacred Way (p. 13). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 

This quote made me take a few minutes to ponder.  What is a Kempis saying?  That to know God we have to turn off our brains?  There are many times when I really wish I could stop the thought process.  After a few moments of pondering...

The point here is not that I have to turn off my brain to get closer to God. But rather,  in the middle of all my thoughts, opinions and abilities I am still able to submit to the Spirit's call.  The call that says, "Hope comes in the morning."  The Spirit that says, "Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."

Why submit and listen to the still small call of the Spirit of God in the middle of this noisy and confusing world?  Because the Spirit is life, the Spirit bring order out of the confusion when I am willing to wait with my questions.

Can I trust that the Spirit of the Living God will fall fresh on me again to bring order to the chaotic?... to the bring peace in the confusion?  I am so much like my three year old granddaughter when it comes to listening to the call of the Spirit of God...so full of questions that I often miss the answers.

That is the quest that we are on...to learn to love and follow in the middle of the ambiguous and the muddled world where we find ourselves.  It it is in the middle of the real world, where it is loud and the challenges come at us at light speed that spiritual formation finds root...in submission to the Spirit and his direction for this day.

Lord Jesus-Help me to listen in the middle of the noise of this day's needs to your call.