Shhhhhh! Listen.

I've been accused of ignoring my wife, and kids, and parents, etc. Some call it selective hearing and just maybe it's that or as I find myself in the midst of middle age, it just may be the hearing that's going. Although I reserve the right to deny this!

I've had to learn to focus on listening to what she has to say, or more to the point, what she is "really" saying. It's helped our relationship because:
1. She knows I'm listening
2. I hear her.

These two things are critical to building a relationship. Without them I dare say there is no relationship at all! Regardless the type of relationship you are trying to build, friendships, partnerships, marriages, etc. listening is critical.

I remember being in grade school. It's there that I learned how to listen. O sure my parents taught me well how to listen, sunday school teachers and others helped as well. But in school, I learned the skills of listening. It's here that I discovered the difference between sitting in the front or the back of the classroom; next to friends or more independently; leaning into the teacher or leaning back in my chair. It's here that I learned how to learn through my listening posture. (By the way, just because I learned it doesn't mean I always did it! I'm talking about being a kid here!)

But listening to God is a different story, or so I'm told.

One of the most asked questions of me as a pastor is about hearing from God. Have I heard God's voice? Do people hear God speak today? Does God even speak in the same way today? Why haven't I heard God? It is one of our great desires to hear God, like the Biblical heroes of old who heard with loud booming voices and who easliy recognized the voice as the Almighty's. I wonder, though, if it were always so clear. Did these great people of faith really hear God audibly? or was it much more subtle, like a thought that washes over the consciousness? Or maybe it was more like a 2x4 to the side of the head that knocked them faithful (like Jacob who wrestled with God and walked with a limp the rest of his life!).

There are bible references for booming voices, but fewer that we might expect. Most of the times God speaks it is much more like Elijah hearing through the "sheer silence" of the moment. It's not very often that a chorus of heavenly angels come to us to make announcements for God. (now that's something we could do for worship!)

So my answer to those questions: Sure, God speaks, non-stop, 24/7/365, but the message isn't usually preceeded by neon signs or a routine schedule. Instead God just speaks, hoping, waiting, for an opening to get a word in edgewise. The key is to get in the right posture to listen, anxious, ready, quiet.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! (The Message, Proverbs 3:5-6)

You may remember this passage another way:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and rely not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight.

It's simple, God is speaking in all that we do, work, play, rest, so quit talking, get quiet, focus on Him...

...and listen!

Peace ><>
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