Have you heard that the Spirit makes intercession for you with groanings too deep to be uttered? Have you heard that most communication is non-verbal? How great is your own experience and practice of this? Have you ever shared space and presence with someone in an encounter in which words were not necessary; in fact they would have interfered? Yet the encounter and interaction and exchange were real. I said that my sheep hear my voice, yet I am not limited to words in the way I communicate.

Do you believe in giving credit where credit is due? Have you been a believer long enough to have a testimony of me? Do you have stories of my loving and faithful interventions in your life? How do you come across in your stories? Most people sound pretty good in theirs. Do your stories present you as being full of faith and power or are they more about my goodness and faithfulness? I told you to let your light shine before men that I may be glorified. Do you have to tell people that this is the point of the story, or is it obvious from the content of the story that it is about me?

Have you ever heard someone in the midst of a difficult situation say, at times like these you find out who your friends are? This is the other side of the coin to the idea of fair weather friends. The concept in both cases is that true friends will stay with you during difficult times. Who would welcome hardships? Yet in this age of social media and the casual friendships it produces the knowledge of who you can count on in distress is valuable. Have you found that these few are of more value to you than the many who are superficial?

Have you ever had an annoying tune go through your head? Have you tried to get rid of it and found this to be difficult? It is widely known that a boat displaces an amount of water equal to its own weight. If the boat were lifted out of the water the hole would not remain; water would rush in to fill it. The tune in your head is subject to the same principle. You can’t replace something with nothing. Pick a tune you like and use it to replace the annoying one. How many other examples of the principle of displacement can you think of that you can use to your advantage in your own life?