Slave

John MacArthur's book Slave has created quite a stir.  Being a slave really is the essence of our relationship with Jesus.  Most of us continue to accommodate Christ.  We move over a little in our lives to make room for Him.  We plead for Him to make our lives work, to heal Aunt Martha, to help me pass this evaluation, to get me a job.  What we want is for God to do something in our lives to make our lives get better.  This is why suffering makes no sense and why God not showing up is so bothersome.  If this story is about us, then God should be doing something to make it sweet...if He really does love us.
If we, on the other hand, are His slaves and the story is about Him and not about us, then suffering is easy because God is using that to move His plot line forward, to create His story, to define and refine us as a part of His story.  Giving up our agenda, though, is very difficult.  We need control of our lives.  We can't just go through life letting things happen to us being completely reactive beings.  That's the struggle - living on that boundary.  Giving up our agenda but not fully knowing God's.  A dear friend of mine said when she gets up in the morning she prays that she will just get out of God's way today, "Let me not be me today but your servant, Lord."  Oh what Jesus could do if we all did what He asked.  "I only do what I see the Father doing." Listening is a great start.  Instead of praying at God tomorrow morning, just listen.  Notice images in your mind or thoughts that come up.  Try following up on those.  They may not all be from God at first because you listen so poorly but you'll get better at it.  His sheep learn His voice.  Takes a little time but His sheep learn His voice.