“Are You Listening?”
I think it’s getting harder and harder to find people who are good listeners. In a world where multi-tasking is the norm, how do we find those who will really stop and listen to us when we have something important to share? How can we be good listeners? I know that my attention span can be real short sometimes and my mind will start to wander away to other things, then next thing I know the person talking will say...”what do you think?”…and I realize that since I wasn’t listening very well that I can’t answer that question. Not a good feeling. I know some people that no matter what you say, next thing you know they are talking about themselves…again (I’m sure I’m guilty of this at times too). Anyway, being a good listener is important. We need to be able to share joy, ask advice, get things off our chest, and feel valuable.
Yes, time is valuable, and taking time to give a friend or loved one or maybe even a stranger our undivided attention is important. How do we do this though? It seems like we are always busy when someone wants to talk to us, for example. Guys always wonder why their wives decide they want to talk when they are watching TV…right guys (maybe it’s because you are always watching TV?). I’ve been in relationships where every time I wanted to talk, my girlfriend was on the phone (well…maybe she was on the phone too much?). Whatever the case, we feel better when people listen to us and we can feel real rejection when they don’t.
So how do you think God feels when we don’t listen to Him? Oh yes, He’s talking to us, but are we listening…are we giving Him our undivided attention? This is how this whole writing thing started for me. One day during a ruff spot I was going through I stopped and just said to myself, “There’s got to be something to learn from this”. God spoke to me in that moment and showed me exactly what He was saying. No, I didn’t actually hear a voice, God spoke to me through the situation. I learned something by paying attention to what He was saying, so I wrote about it so that people could hear what God was saying through me…see how that works. There are many ways God tries to communicate with us or use us to communicate with others.
There was one time several years ago, that everywhere I went I was getting behind a really slow driver. Now to some people (my kids) I’m a really slow driver myself, so imagine how slow someone would have to be going for me to think they were slow. It was unbelievable. I’m talking everywhere I went there was the slowest driver ever right in front of me! It was a week that I was going out of town with a group of teens that weekend, and I was busy trying to get prepared to go, so I had a few extra errands to run and was a little more hurried than normal. So after about 4 days of always getting stuck behind somebody just crawling along I had just about had it. That day I was heading to the store, and sure enough, this car pulls out in front of me that I could have run faster than they were going, so I threw my hands up and said “OK God, what are you trying to tell me? Is it that you want me to slow down? OK, I get it, I need to slow down.” Just as I said the last words, the car in front of me pulled into the middle lane and turned to the left. For me it was God telling me, “yep, you finally got it!” and He just moved that car right out of my way. I slowed down and the road blocks disappeared! You see I was going to be driving the teens that weekend and I believe God was preparing me for that. He wanted me to relax and slow down not just my car, but my mind as well.
I think that would be a good message for all of us…relax, slow down, and sometimes just stop. Stop and listen. Get on your knees in total silence and listen (Luke 5:16). Open the Bible and listen. Turn on some worship music and listen. Take a walk through a park and listen. Open your heart and mind to God and just listen.
Lately I have really enjoyed going up into Sequoia Park and hiking the trails. I’ve have seen beautiful mountain scenery that I have never seen before by hiking those trails. When I’m there I take time to listen and I hear God say…”look at what I made for you…just for you. Isn’t it amazing? …Isn’t it beautiful? …I love you so much”. Now that feels good. I could listen to that all day.
By Glen Bryant
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