How's Your Hearing?

I have disjointed thoughts from the week's studies...it often feels like God is not fulfilling His end of the deal. 
He is being too quiet!
Anticipation jump starts the writing process on Monday mornings. Every week my anxieties become over-ruled by the fact that I think I think God IS saying something;
but I have to start punching these keys to hear it. Punching keys helps me ponder.

We are in the Gospels; 
attempting to chronicle Jesus' relationships.
We are beginning with His family, because family is where relating begins.
Jesus' extended family were the first to hear the long anticipated message that God was indeed ready to hold up His end of the deal.
And what was His end? We need to go all the way back to Genesis 12:1-3, when God broke another period of felt silence and promised Abram (Abraham) to give him a really, really big family; big enough to be its own nation in fact with its own land. And this family of Abraham's would actually be so special in the world that EVERY family would be "blessed" by them.
God's end of the deal was honoring this promise. 
Abraham's family though, had repeated hearing problems.
They were human after all. How many of us walk away from times of relating with our loved one's with several different versions of one interaction?
The Old Testament is full of Israel's spin on what God said and who He was. 
Abraham himself had lived in a world of idol worship and godless practices. No wonder God had to send him up on top of Mt. Moriah to sacrifice Isaac. 
That's the kind of "god" Abraham knew...gods demanded blood to make them happy. 
But instead, the God of the promise said, (my version) "I can see that you fear me...but I am not like other Gods. I am not just a god who simply demands to be appeased. I want to love you and I will provide the sacrifice myself, so that you can feel my love; 
love me because I love you Abraham 
not just because you're scared witless."
Abraham made so many mistakes. His listening skills were tainted by his history and his humanity. 
His family continued in this cycle of spiritual deafness, misdirected worship, severe consequences, cries for help, and divine intervention for a very long time before the silence between the Testaments. 
But thousands of years later,  some family members were still waiting to hear God's voice in faith that the promise would be kept.
One of them was Mary.
The Gospels talk about her "pondering" over and over again.
She had developed her listening skills and given her heart completely to God.
Luke tells us that God sent Gabriel to speak on His behalf. Mary heard clearly that God was indeed going to forgive Israel, fix their relationship with Him and make them a gift of His mercy to the world... in a son, Jesus. 
The devastation of sin on the whole human family was about to be reversed so that the family relationship could be restored and reset.
What hope!
She could not contain her excitement!
"My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Luke 1:46-47
Thousands of years later God still speaks. Maybe not through an angelic visit, but 
He still let's us feel the consequences of sin to say: 
"Everything and everyone else will always come         up short, but Me!" 
He still presents us with moments of profound beauty to say: "You were made for more...it's ME!"
He still calls to us through the Scriptures: "I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly" .(John 10:10)
He still promises: "This is MY body broken for you, this is MY blood, shed for you..."

Are you listening?