Biography

Hello, my name is Blake Shipp. My wife, Rachel, and I have been married for twelve years and we have two terrific children, Addison and Hayden. My wife and I are originally from Austin, Texas. I have been serving as the Equipping Pastor here at Browncroft for two years. 

 

Reflection

Wouldn’t it be great if God took the time to speak to us? Sure God speaks to each of us in and through the Bible. What if God had individual messages designed and sent just to us? I think life would be a lot less complicated. Think about it. Getting up every morning  and going through each day hearing how God feels about me, about each situation I experience, about how He feels and what He wants me to do. The reality is that God seems a lot more distant than that. OK, so God speaks, but not directly to me. Right? I am not so sure. As I go through life and as I read texts like the one today, I am growing more and more convinced that God does speak. He is always speaking, speaking to each and every one of us individually. He is speaking. We just have to tune our ears to hear.  

 

Where does God speak? In Judges, I see that God speaks through every day circumstances, the ordinary stuff of life (Judges 3.1-4). The everyday experience of the Israelites was that the Canaanites remained in the land. Certainly a difficult and painful experience if you are an Israelite. However, God was speaking through this everyday experience to the Israelites, trying to speak to them about warfare and His specific desires for their daily life (Judges 3.2, 4). The rub came when the Israelites missed it. They didn’t hear God speaking through their everyday situation and circumstances with the result being choices that led them away from God’s desired path (Judges 3.7). What encourages me about this is that God does speak. He speaks to each of us, individually through our circumstances. God cares enough to take the time to talk just to me. He is speaking all the time if I will but listen. That’s where I take pause and find challenge. When I am honest, I realize I look a lot like the Israelites, probably missing most of what God is trying to say to me. As I have thought about it, this idea that God is always speaking and I am not listening, I have decided to begin a new practice, a practice designed to open my ears to what God is saying. At the end of each day I am taking a few minutes to collect my thoughts and reflect on the day. I am asking, “What happened today?” and then asking, “Where was God in what happened?” I don’t force anything. I just write down what comes to my mind. I have been doing this for a few weeks now and here’s what’s amazing to me. I am starting to catch glimpses of God in my everyday stuff, starting to hear His voice. It isn’t that God has just now started speaking. I think it is more likely that I have just now started listening.  

 

Your fellow traveler,  

 

Blake