Listening

Growing up, I had this pastor who used to say, “Now listen. Are you listening?” Every time he said it—about 20 times every sermon—I knew that he was going to say something, something I needed to hear, or at least something he thought I needed to hear. Regardless of its importance—it is hard to get a sixteen-year-old guy to think anything is very important—I knew that when he spoke this phrase, something was going to follow. There was a comfortable predictability about it. He told me to listen and then he said something. Formulaic? Maybe. Predictable and dependable? Definitely.

Now I am all grown up, at least I pretend to be, and I am wrestling with matters much bigger than when I was sixteen, issues like whether I would be able to get that hot girl sitting in front of me to give me the time of day. I actually figured that one out and got her to marry me so I have had to move on to other issues. I wrestle with issues like parenting and work, maintaining a home and being a friend. Oh, and I still work at making sure that hot girl knows I am still crazy about her. Even though I am grown up, the words of my former pastor still ring in my ears. No, I am not listening to old sermon tapes. Yes, they would be tapes. I am finding that his words are something akin to God’s own. God seems to whisper quite regularly in my ear, “Now, Blake, listen. Are you listening?”

It seems that lately, God has a singular desire for me. It seems that he wants me to listen. Here’s the trouble with it all. God hasn’t been all that dependable in speaking. When my pastor told me to listen, he spoke. Yet, it seems like when God tells me to listen, he grows silent. I get only one part of the formula from God. I get the call to listen without anything to follow. To be honest, there is definitely a predictability to it, but it is a predictability that is anything but comfortable.

So what is God up to in my life? I really would like to know. While I can’t figure it all out, here is what I know is happening. As I listen without hearing, I am learning that listening is about more than hearing. It is about more than receiving. I am discovering that listening is more a state of being than anything else. To listen, really listen is to sit patiently in quiet trust, in an attitude of dependency and reliance. God cannot be rushed nor can he be forced to speak. Trust me. I have tried to pry answers from God and I think I am worse for the wear after each attempt. No amount of pleading or cajoling can hasten listening. It simply does not work. It seems that each time I try to force God I am brought back to a state of sitting. The longer I sit, the more that the answer, should it come, seems to be less important than the relationship I am developing as I wait. For me, listening is becoming about relaxing and being in the presence of God, of letting go of my need to have answers or generate outcomes. Listening is becoming more about God and less about me, less about striving and more about abiding. Maybe when I truly think about it, what I see happening is that for me, listening is not becoming but actually central to my becoming.

A fellow traveler,

Blake

What’s my next step?

We encourage you to consider engaging in the following as a way of handing off faith in your family.

Pray Habakkuk 3.2 as a family: Listening to God is a community endeavor. We learn to do this starting in our families. This week, consider using the table tent containing Habakkuk 3.2 to guide a family prayer time. You might consider setting aside a time, perhaps a few minutes before or after meals, to say this prayer together. After saying the prayer, be still and quiet as a family, seeking to listen for God’s response and to sense God’s presence. For younger children consider pausing for 2-3 minutes. For teenagers, consider pausing and sitting in God’s presence for 5-10 minutes. You might consider talking as a family about your experience of sitting in God’s presence.

We encourage you to consider engaging in the following as a way of deepening your own faith.

Make space to listen: Listening to God takes time and space for our listening comes within the context of our abiding relationship with Christ. To learn to listen takes making time and space to sit with God, regardless of whether we hear from him. As we are currently living, few of us have time to be with God in this intentional way. We have to take intentional steps to clear space so that we can be with God. This week consider making such space by fasting from electronic devices or social media. Use the time you would have connected with others on sites like Facebook to connect with God by simply sitting with him or by inviting him to join you in doing what you enjoy doing the most.