Attentiveness (First Thoughts)

For the past year or so God has had my attention and has been calling me to be more attentive. Whether this is for those I serve in ministry, my family, myself, whoever, God has called me to many times and places of being attentive and sitting with Him. Here is just an initial thought on attentiveness.

For the past year or so God has had my attention and has been calling me to be more attentive. Whether this is for those I serve in ministry, my family, myself, whoever, God has called me to many times and places of being attentive and sitting with Him. Here is just an initial thought on attentiveness.
God paid attention to me long before I ever paid attention to Him. I read this in a book recently and it resonated with something deep within. I had to stop and reflect. As a minister, wife, mother, etc. I have to pay attention to a lot of people and a lot of happenings. I don’t know about you, but I get worn out and get tired of “paying attention” and I wonder if anyone is ever paying attention to me and my needs. Maybe this resonates with you. What encouraged and encourages me is that God did and does pay attention to me first. He sees and hears. He cares.
In the same book I was reading I also read about learning inattentiveness. It’s true if you think about it, we have all learned how to be inattentive. We multi-task, we tune people out, we let our minds wander, our agenda leads in our head rather than letting another lead/set the agenda. We have learned to not pay attention so we need to learn to be attentive.
I will be the first to confess that sometimes I choose to pay attention to things and events that are unimportant. Learning to pay attention to the right things and the right times takes a lot of discipline and a lot of practice. I’m working on that. Also, learning to let go is a discipline and an act of trust in God and others. I’m working on that too.
How about you? How have you learned inattentiveness? Who in your life needs your attention? Does God need your attention?