Pastors corner

Ever have a song run around in your head and it just won’t go away? It can drive you crazy sometimes, especially if it’s a song you never really liked. Lately, I’ve had a Bible verse running through my brain. It came kind of slowly, just a few words of it and gradually the whole verse was running through my mind. I couldn’t remember from which book it came, but I knew it was one of the minor prophets.

One of the wonderful things about computers and the internet is that you can put a few words into Google and it comes up with an answer for you... well, usually several, sometimes a lot, but this time my answer was right up on top after entering the words, “What does the Lord require of you?”

The answer was right there: Micah 6:8. The verse is: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness [mercy], and to walk humbly with your God.”

So I’ve been spending a lot of time with this verse lately. It comes to my mind at the oddest times, sometimes with new insight and sometimes with frustration. We need to do justice, not seek justice. We need to love kindness, not expect kindness. We need to walk humbly with God, not tell others they are wrong about their walk with God.

God speaks to us in so many different ways, which makes listening for the voice of God all the more complicated. God speaks to us through scripture, God speaks to us through nature, God speaks to us through people. This last is very difficult because God often uses people we don’t expect God to speak through, people we consider sinners or unworthy.

But if we look back at Jesus, we will see that he most often used those considered to be sinners and unworthy to speak to his disciples and the religious. Jesus is the perfect example of Micah 6:8: He did justice, loved kindness (mercy), and he walked humbly with God.

Is there anything running through your heart or mind over and over again, scriptural or otherwise? Perhaps God is trying to teach you something that will help you in your journey of faith. It might be something you need to add to your life or something you need to get rid of. It might just be a lesson you need to learn or something you need to unlearn.

Take time to notice these things. Turn off your phone. Turn off your iPod. Sit quietly undisturbed and listen for awhile and perhaps you will hear what the Lord requires of you.

Rev. Jeannette Solimine

United Church of Christ

Colfax, WA