Listen. Really? Listen?
“The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” 1 Kings 19:11-13 NIV
I am convinced that God has a sense of humor. I have experienced it so many times in my life. He has taught me to laugh in the face of difficulty. To laugh with brothers and sisters in Christ. To laugh at myself. To laugh at memories of both good and bad. To laugh at the past seasons of my life where I thought all was lost. When in reality gain was happening as God removed those things that stood between me and Him.
Each year I seek and adopt a word from the Lord that he is telling me to focus on in the coming year. Past years words have included ‘builder,’ ‘seek,’ ‘trust,’ etc. Good words. Exciting words. Words that aligned with my impression of myself and my core strengths. (Hmm, insert laughter here.)
So heading into 2024, I sought and waited expectantly for the exciting and aligning word that God would assign to me. Then it happened. The Father in Heaven assigned to me through a voice, loving and laughing, the word LISTEN. Really? Listen!
Now anyone who knows me well will work to tell you my strengths and quickly rattle off my weaknesses. Few to any will include the word ‘listen’ when describing my strengths. In fact, listen likely will just not come up in the discussion. Listen? What word did you say, Lord? I wasn’t….listening.
For decades I expected God to reveal himself to me through life-altering events. I expected life change to be singular and immediate. I expected that God would take an out of spiritual shape man and with a snap of his fingers, morph me into a fit and healthy son. He didn’t. He waited until that Thursday night when I cried out to him as I planned to end my life. And in that moment, my Elijah moment, he said in an audible and calming voice “this is not the plan that I have for your life.” He knew my heart was ready to hear what would enter through my ears. He performed heart surgery because I was ready to listen.
My wife, Megan will tell you that my listening does not rank in the Top-1000 of my relational gifts. I am working on it! I really am. She has and continues to work to teach me that she wants my ears and my attention. And in those moments of listening, she continues to teach me that she is not asking me to solve or ‘fix’ what she is telling me. She is wanting her partner to invest my time and heart into her time and heart. My listening confirms to her that I value her thoughts and I love her so much that by listening, I honor her place as my life partner and best friend. And she is both of those.
So 2024 is a year of great challenge and expectation of great growth. This is the year that I seek deeper relationships by listening to others hearts. What a gift of a word the Father has given me.
The God of all, is the God of intimacy. The God of Grace and Mercy. The God of relationship. The God of heart surgery. Of heart change. The God of carrying. The God of reward and re-work. The God of quiet and revelation that moves mountains when our faith is as great as a mustard seed. He is God with no need to prove to us anything but a desire and commitment to provide to us everything we need. If only we ask and listen. His voice is in the Bible. In the air we breathe, the beauty we see, the voice he gifts through the Holy Spirit. He is with us, if only we seek and…listen.
So my encouragement to you today is to ask God for your word. What is the single word that he wants you to focus on in 2024. As you seek this word, experience the remarkable that occurs as his voice is revealed to you. Understanding God’s desire to have conversation with you is a massive step forward in walking through life with Him as your God and your guide and your perfect friend.
So I am striving to listen more. To fix less. To understand. To stand back and experience. God is growing me by reducing my words and increasing my heart. This listening thing is pretty marvelous. How funny that my Father in Heaven knew it would be 60 years before I was ready for something this exceptional. This listening thing is good.
“Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31 NLT
You’ve got this.