Psalm 46:10a. Be still, and know that I am God.
Now, Thursday promises to be a much better day than Wednesday, that’s probably because it got washed in the early morning rains, so now it’s nice, clean and sunny, though it might get a tad hot and humid during the day. But once it’s not snow or ice, we’re quite happy to deal with it. (smile) And today we’re going to visit a very important topic in our faith walk, listening to God, especially so in these troubled and rather difficult times. To help us do that, let’s read this most interesting poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. Don’t know if I ever shared it before, but if so, it’s certainly worth sharing again. It’s simply but most provocatively and appropriately titled, ‘A Listening Heart.’
Please read with me. ‘I remember vividly the lesson I learned from my husband one day as he came home from his office weary and depleted. It had been a difficult day. He needed to talk. My day had been difficult, too. Countless interruptions, phone calls, guests coming for brunch the next day. I wanted to listen, so I suggested that he follow me from room to room while I dusted the furniture. We tried it. While I dusted the piano, he talked. When I clanged the piano keys he continued, but with a trace of impatience. Next the stereo, then the tables. When I moved, he moved.
Suddenly he grabbed my shoulders. “Please listen to me!” Frankly I was shocked. “Honey, I heard every word you said.” “I mean listen with your heart!” I dropped the dust cloth. We sat down, and I gave my full attention. No body signals, no folded arms, no fingers tapping. I was again aware of the tremendous responsibilities my husband carried. He needed my understanding. He thanked me profusely for listening. That night I remembered how often God had said to the children of Israel, “If my people would only listen.” I thought of God’s yearning for an intimate relationship with us. He waits for our response to his still small voice. He longs for our listening hearts. How we must grieve him when we don’t listen!’
And is that ever the gospel truth my people! God’s heart is terribly grieved by the way we totally ignore Him in these evil and ungodly times; times when we most desperately need to listen to Him, to that still small voice that comes from His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, that will enable us to climb out of the evil muck and mire in which our world is currently enveloped!
And yuh know what, it’s not God alone that we’re not listening to, but to each other, for although we have so many new and quick means of communication, we’re not really communicating, just vaping, or blowing smoke, useless words and ideas to each other. What makes listening even more difficult is the amazing amount of noise that now exists in our world. Everything is loud, turned up to the max, and that’s partly why we can’t hear each other. And with all that noise, how we do we ever expect to hear that still small voice of our great and wonderful God whispering His directions to our souls eh?
It’s almost impossible! We need to get still, be quiet ourselves and listen! Like the Bible Promise on which our poem is based says: ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ (Ps. 46:10a) And do we ever need to make that a habit, because with the advent of increased noise levels in the last couple of generations, the listening aspect of our lives has sadly deteriorated, till now we have forgotten how to listen. We don’t even remember there’s such a thing as listening, as we try to talk all at once, to make ourselves heard above the storm of noise that constantly surrounds us.
And one perfect example of the noise level increase, is that in my area, up to a couple of years ago, we were not accustomed to hearing the sirens of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks, but now, almost every day there’s a cacophony of sirens happening here. When I heard the sirens, I used to think of New York city, where they’re going all the time. And to make matters worse, they’re now building a fire station right in our area, a few blocks away from me. So you can imagine the rise in the noise level when that comes into operation.
But I guess we call it progress; with more people now living in the area, we need more facilities close by. But that doesn’t excuse us from getting quiet and listening to God, for that’s where the directions for our earthly lives come from, and the more we practice listening to Him, the better we will become at discerning His voice. And if you don’t listen, how will you know what He desires of you? And the Good Library is saturated with scriptures about the importance of listening to God.
So let’s check out a few of them nuh. Beginning with this one from Jesus: ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.’ (John 10:27) That’s how sheep know their shepherd, by their voice. And thus, to be true followers of Jesus we need to listen to His voice and get to know it, so we won’t be led astray by a false shepherd. Then there are these provocative words from Isaiah. ‘And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.’ (Is. 30:21) But if you’re not listening how will you hear the directions eh?
And again, in Isaiah, the Lord pleads with His people: ‘…hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness (abundance). Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live…’ (Is. 55:2b-3a) Yes friends, all through the Bible we are encouraged to listen to God’s voice, through His Word, and through the Holy Spirit. And until we get good at it through unceasing practice, we will never fully get the information we so badly need to live the abundant life that Christ died for us to have.
Now here’s a prayer from one commentary that will hopefully help us in our listening to God’s small, still voice. Please pray it with me. ‘May God grant us open eyes, open hearts and open ears that we may always hear when God speaks to us. May God grant us discernment and wisdom to consistently recognize our Father’s voice. May God grant us willing hearts to obey God quickly when He gives us certain instructions.’ Please ponder that prayer for a moment.
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’
And now that we’ve activated those blessings, it’s our bounden duty to go out and share them just as generously with others, as Christ shared them with us! Much LOVE!
… learning to listen…is the believer’s first act of discipleship…
P.S. Please forgive me, I completely forgot about our promise to continue with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from yesterday. I guess the Lord taught today’s topic more important, because He didn’t remind me util I was almost though with today’s Bit. (smile) Much LOVE!
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