Think Vertical
Over the last 28 years I’ve worked in a hospital setting with a few breaks here and there to pursue similar things revolving around healthcare. And over the years I’ve come used to answering the question,” How are you doing? With the words,” Doing great, everyday I’m vertical is a good day.” I’ve become accustomed to seeing people going through some of the worst stages of their lives dealing with sickness and being unable to even sit up on their own. In some cases, they can’t breathe on their own and I think about how good God has been to me. He truly is amazing. But recently I was having a conversation with another sister of mine who I deeply admire. I admire her walk with God and the struggles God has and still is bringing her through. We got to talking about how most people are so in tuned with worrying about what others think of them that they don’t know what to truly think of themselves. Having an identity crisis. I heard myself say,” if we would just be more concerned with the vertical ears instead of the horizontal ones we’d be so much better off.
Opinions. I know everyone has one. But we must be careful as to what we are truly letting into our heads and hearts. Not letting society or Facebook and Instagram tell us who we are but listening to what our heavenly Father has to say about who we are. He is our creator. And as our creator He knows us intimately. Our insides and outsides-He knows! You know, just like having a car that needs repair…you wouldn’t take your Range Rover to the Kia dealer for repairs, would you? And when we, God’s children need repair we should go straight to our maker, our way maker, miracle working God. He should be the only one whose opinions matter to you. We need to be more about God’s business and less about what others think.
To do this I believe we must tune up our vertical ears and listen. When I’m quiet I can hear everything that’s going on around me. Right now, I can hear my noisy ceiling fan, a couple of kids outside my window playing ball, a car driving by and in the distance, I can hear my child laughing and playing in the other room. But it took me to be completely quiet to hear it all. When I quiet myself down, turn off all the noises of the world and get my vertical ears listening to what’s really important—all is good in my world. I don’t do it every day but I do make a habit out of getting up early. I read my bible or listen to music. Write poems or stories, read books and have that peaceful time to sort of get my ears ready for whatever God wants to tell me. I come expecting him to speak to me. I have a notebook and pen and I’m ready to write. Occasionally it starts with a dream other times it starts in the middle of my work day but I always keep something handy to write things down. I don’t want to miss anything God has to say to me. His words are more precious than Gold. Tune your vertical ears in guys and come expecting something BIG! Keep listening…God has something to say to us all.
Just keeping it Cristaclear. Find me on the web and social media at cristaclearinspirations.com