A Question Overheard

If someone eavesdrops on your conversation, you would be a bit annoyed.
Some things are meant only for the ears of the person in front of you.
Sometimes, eavesdropping cannot be helped.
Sitting on a bus or a train, it is inevitable that you will hear other conversations.

You hear someone’s conversation, albeit unwillingly, if they are talking loudly on their phone.
We have all had the experience of needing something right where the person is standing.
This has happened more times than I can count when I am in the grocery store.
The person looks annoyed when you kindly ask them to move.

It is not a good idea to eavesdrop because you never have the full story.
If the person is on the phone, you only hear one side of the conversation.
If people are talking and you happen to hear, you did not hear from the beginning.
Conversations are not like coloring pages when there is an expectation to connect the dots.

Conversations can be tricky things.
Even if the conversation is meant for you, miscommunication can happen.
When two people talk together, words are spoken, heard, and must be understood.
It is in the understanding that the problem often lies.

I saw a mom pushing a shopping cart with her two children.
One child was in the designated seat in the front.
The older child was sitting in the basket.
The older child and her mother were in conversation.

The mother passed me with her shopping cart.
I was deciding on some items.
I heard snippets of their conversation as they passed.
I did not know what they were talking about before the question I heard.

Mommy, what is a war, anyway?
I heard the mother begin to answer.
I wanted to turn my shopping cart around and follow her.
I really wanted to hear her explanation.

How do you explain the concept of war to a child?
What made the child ask that question in the first place?
Wouldn’t it be nice if war was simply the stuff of stories instead of a reality for many?
I have no idea how that conversation proceeded.

How would you define the color yellow to a person who was blind?
How would you define music to a person who could not hear?
What examples would you use to bring the concept home?
What would you say?

Mommy, what is a war, anyway?
Where do you begin?
Do you talk about when two friends get mad at each other?
Do you talk about the angry voices that are overheard on the news each night?

Do you talk about the struggle inside each one of us when we have to make a decision?
Do you talk about temptation that pulls us in different directions?
Do you talk about the driver that cut you off on the highway?
Do you talk about the two cats fighting outside in the night, which sounded like a baby crying?

Where do you begin to explain the concept of war?
Wars start over many different things.
Some understandable.
Some ridiculous.

Wars start inside the human heart.
Wars started in the Garden.
Did God really say? (Genesis 3:1)
God did say and we have been at war with Him ever since.

We do not want to be told what to do.
That is why Satan is so dangerous.
Satan, the accuser, puts doubt in our hearts concerning the goodness of God.
Satan tries to get us to question the truth of God’s Word.

War begins in the heart.
The heart that was created by God but was hardened by sin.
The heart that needs a complete overhaul.
The heart that must be turned from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

I was getting ready to water my plants on my deck.
I noticed something on the bottom step.
I thought it was a stick.
I bent down to pick it up and it slithered.

I jumped back.
The snake slithered back under the deck.
The whole incident sent shivers down my spine.
Even if it was a garter snake, it was quite large.

We are even at war with nature.
Everything is groaning.
Everything is not as it should be.
But one day…

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him-the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord– and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  (Isaiah 11:1-9)

One day, a snake will not be a threat.
One day the redeemed human heart will be flesh, not stone.
One day, wars will cease.
One day, Jesus will make everything new.

Mommy, what is a war, anyway?
Well, let me tell you, little one.
It is a story that goes all the way back to the Garden.
There is a Rider on a white horse who comes to rescue His people.

He is called, King of kings and Lord of Lords, little one.
On that day there will be one last battle.
The King will take His people Home with Him.
And then, there will finally be peace.

Maranatha!
Come, Lord Jesus.

2 responses to “A Question Overheard”

1. What wonderful hope we have in Christ! Thank You, Father God!

   Reply

   • Yes, Sue, we have a glorious Hope.
     We already know how the Story will end.
     Gina

     Reply