Again, I'm behind in blogging some things that I'd hoped to share. I've realized that this season of my life, no matter whether it's short (I hope!) or not, is one where I'm not only having difficulty hearing God because of too many distractions...but the lessons I am learning are deeply personal, yet seemly insignificant on the surface. Today's that I share is an example of such.
I once read that to 'learn forgiveness, one should learn to listen.' I liked that when I first came across it a few years ago and I've made a concerted effort to be a better listener ever since. When I'm with someone that listens better than I do, it appears that I still talk too much, but overall...God has made me more outward-focused. One area this is evident? I've become a better listener. Note...I said better...not perfect.
And when I finally began learning to shut-up, I became aware of a lot of things I'd never noticed before. For instance, there are many people that don't know how to listen. I've become more aware of just how often I'm interrupted by those that just want you to hear them and really don't care to listen to what you're saying. I've also always been able to read body language, intonation, pregnant pauses and a whole host of other things pretty well. But when I quit feeling the need to dominate conversation, this "subtext" began to scream even louder so I could truly hear what was being said. The Holy Spirit's discernment has also grown in me, so sometimes there are things that I just "know" even without necessarily being told by the person.
I've also realized that when I'm listening to others speak, I often add something that attaches me to their conversation...an experience, something I've learned, or a funny story about my kids. Truly, their conversation could have absolutely nothing to do with me...and I'll try to make it applicable to my life. Twisted, I know...but I've noticed that most people I know do the exact same thing.
So why is this?
Eugene Peterson helped pull all of the above together for me a few weeks ago when I read this: "We live in a noisy world. We are yelled at, promoted, called. We are surrounded with noise: telephone, radio, television, stereo. Messages are amplified deafeningly. The world is a mob in which everyone is talking at once and no one is willing or able to listen. But God listens. He not only speaks to us, He listens to us. His listening to us is an even greater marvel than His speaking to us. It is rare to find anyone who listens carefully and thoroughly. It is rare to find our stammering understood, our clumsy speech deciphered, our garbled syntax unravelled, sorted out and heard--every syllable attended to, every nuance comprehended. Our minds are taken seriously. Our feelings are taken seriously. When it happens we know that what we say and feel are immensely important. We acquire dignity. We never know how well we think or speak until we find someone who listens to us." (Reversed Thunder, emphasis mine)
Peterson's Biblical reference for knowing that God listens? When the prayers of the saints rise to heaven, Revelation 8:1 tells us there was silence in heaven "for about half an hour".
When we think no one else will listen, no one else will care...we are promised that all of heaven is silent when we offer our petition to God.
Another interesting thing I thought of while typing Peterson's paragraph above is that this book was written in 1988. When he wrote about the noise of telephone, radio, television, and stereo, he had no clue just how deafening the noise would be to a woman reading his book in the year 2012. I can't begin to count how many times I've walked by tables in a restaurant or coffee shop and seen people, often families, not even looking up at each other as they eat because they're all attached to their iPhones, or various other electronics. If it's this way in public, are their homes any different? I've seen in our own family how quickly my kids have become glued to their iPod touches that they received for "tax check Christmas".
Do we even stop and consider just how counter-cultural it is to turn off the devices and give someone our undivided attention? I don't mean put it on vibrate, check to see who's trying to reach you and just ignoring it. For all practical purposes, that's still an unnecessary interruption.
If all heaven is truly silent when someone has a concern, a petition, a praise...shouldn't we be as well? I heard a good sermon yesterday about how the church has a history of wounding those who are already hurting. Judgment is often the weapon of choice used against people who just want help, hope and healing. But even now, as I process through what I heard, I can't help thinking what if instead of drawing any conclusions about someone, we just chose to turn off all the noise in our lives...and listen?
Yes, maybe there would be some tough choices to be made, some action to take on the path to healing and wholeness...but what I kept hearing over and over again in the stories that where shared was again, the subtext. It was said repeatedly, 'I was judged and they wrote me off!' Different words by different people, but the story was the same. Sometimes, I don't even think it's the judgment that hurts. I think it's the fact that someone jumped to a conclusion about you without even taking a moment to listen.
The conclusion the speaker drew yesterday is the same one I leave you with today: Even when everyone in the church fails you...judges you...possibly even disowns you. Even if you feel you have no choice but to give up on the church...don't give up on Jesus.
No one else will ever listen as well as He does...but as His followers, that's the standard set before us. So if you call yourself a Jesus follower, next time someone has a need to share with you...turn off your phone, open up your heart and just listen. If heaven is silent for half an hour, surely we can be too!
Amen!
I once read that to 'learn forgiveness, one should learn to listen.' I liked that when I first came across it a few years ago and I've made a concerted effort to be a better listener ever since. When I'm with someone that listens better than I do, it appears that I still talk too much, but overall...God has made me more outward-focused. One area this is evident? I've become a better listener. Note...I said better...not perfect.
And when I finally began learning to shut-up, I became aware of a lot of things I'd never noticed before. For instance, there are many people that don't know how to listen. I've become more aware of just how often I'm interrupted by those that just want you to hear them and really don't care to listen to what you're saying. I've also always been able to read body language, intonation, pregnant pauses and a whole host of other things pretty well. But when I quit feeling the need to dominate conversation, this "subtext" began to scream even louder so I could truly hear what was being said. The Holy Spirit's discernment has also grown in me, so sometimes there are things that I just "know" even without necessarily being told by the person.
I've also realized that when I'm listening to others speak, I often add something that attaches me to their conversation...an experience, something I've learned, or a funny story about my kids. Truly, their conversation could have absolutely nothing to do with me...and I'll try to make it applicable to my life. Twisted, I know...but I've noticed that most people I know do the exact same thing.
So why is this?
Eugene Peterson helped pull all of the above together for me a few weeks ago when I read this: "We live in a noisy world. We are yelled at, promoted, called. We are surrounded with noise: telephone, radio, television, stereo. Messages are amplified deafeningly. The world is a mob in which everyone is talking at once and no one is willing or able to listen. But God listens. He not only speaks to us, He listens to us. His listening to us is an even greater marvel than His speaking to us. It is rare to find anyone who listens carefully and thoroughly. It is rare to find our stammering understood, our clumsy speech deciphered, our garbled syntax unravelled, sorted out and heard--every syllable attended to, every nuance comprehended. Our minds are taken seriously. Our feelings are taken seriously. When it happens we know that what we say and feel are immensely important. We acquire dignity. We never know how well we think or speak until we find someone who listens to us." (Reversed Thunder, emphasis mine)
Peterson's Biblical reference for knowing that God listens? When the prayers of the saints rise to heaven, Revelation 8:1 tells us there was silence in heaven "for about half an hour".
When we think no one else will listen, no one else will care...we are promised that all of heaven is silent when we offer our petition to God.
Another interesting thing I thought of while typing Peterson's paragraph above is that this book was written in 1988. When he wrote about the noise of telephone, radio, television, and stereo, he had no clue just how deafening the noise would be to a woman reading his book in the year 2012. I can't begin to count how many times I've walked by tables in a restaurant or coffee shop and seen people, often families, not even looking up at each other as they eat because they're all attached to their iPhones, or various other electronics. If it's this way in public, are their homes any different? I've seen in our own family how quickly my kids have become glued to their iPod touches that they received for "tax check Christmas".
Do we even stop and consider just how counter-cultural it is to turn off the devices and give someone our undivided attention? I don't mean put it on vibrate, check to see who's trying to reach you and just ignoring it. For all practical purposes, that's still an unnecessary interruption.
If all heaven is truly silent when someone has a concern, a petition, a praise...shouldn't we be as well? I heard a good sermon yesterday about how the church has a history of wounding those who are already hurting. Judgment is often the weapon of choice used against people who just want help, hope and healing. But even now, as I process through what I heard, I can't help thinking what if instead of drawing any conclusions about someone, we just chose to turn off all the noise in our lives...and listen?
Yes, maybe there would be some tough choices to be made, some action to take on the path to healing and wholeness...but what I kept hearing over and over again in the stories that where shared was again, the subtext. It was said repeatedly, 'I was judged and they wrote me off!' Different words by different people, but the story was the same. Sometimes, I don't even think it's the judgment that hurts. I think it's the fact that someone jumped to a conclusion about you without even taking a moment to listen.
The conclusion the speaker drew yesterday is the same one I leave you with today: Even when everyone in the church fails you...judges you...possibly even disowns you. Even if you feel you have no choice but to give up on the church...don't give up on Jesus.
No one else will ever listen as well as He does...but as His followers, that's the standard set before us. So if you call yourself a Jesus follower, next time someone has a need to share with you...turn off your phone, open up your heart and just listen. If heaven is silent for half an hour, surely we can be too!
Amen!
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