Reason #256
I love to talk. If you've ever met me or spent a few minutes around me, this is not news to you. In fact, I'm sure you could pick up on this piece of information from my lengthy blog posts. I don't like silence. I always have something to say and am not afraid to speak up. There's nothing I enjoy more than a good conversation. According to research (that I got from google) the average woman speaks about 25,000 words a day. It's safe to say I'm well above average in this category. But an important part of conversation is listening. So I've spent a lot of years talking to God. Asking a million questions and telling Him a million things. I always felt like I had a hard time hearing Him. "You have one mouth and two ears, so listen twice as much as you talk." But my ears weren't picking it up. I would give Him options or avenues to use so that I could hear Him. "Lord, do this particular thing and that way, I'll know the answer." I wasn't really expecting a burning bush, but in a way, I was. I wanted this completely obvious, very tangible answer. Shine a light, write in the sky, send me an email. And so the talking continued, and the more I talked the harder I became of hearing.
But there are moments in life when you run out of words. Moments that leave you speechless and you don't even know what to say. And I have had those moments. Moments where I couldn't come up with words, where I couldn't even think of how to say what I felt. I became so desperate for help, so desperate for an answer. I needed it. I needed direction. I needed encouragement. I needed to hear His voice. I needed the peace that comes from hearing because silence can be deafening, silence can be frightening. And truthfully, when we spend time talking, when we are crying out, there's so much comfort in simply knowing that you have been heard. But the listener can't give confirmation if the talker doesn't listen. And the talker can't hear if their mouth is open and their ears are closed.
I began to notice, as I cried out for help and answers, that people would say the strangest things to me. I would specifically pray about something and within no time at all, someone would say exactly what I needed to hear. And this started happening a lot. My heart would be heavy, I would be desperately praying about something in particular, and I would get a message from a friend that would address the exact situation I had been praying about. And these people had no idea. They didn't hear my prayers, they didn't know what was on my heart, but God did. I quickly realized that He was using them to speak to me, to answer my questions, to give me guidance. These situations and conversations were not happening by coincidence. And I realized how many Godly people were in my life, how many wise people He had surrounded me with. People who were seeking after Him and because of that, were being used by Him. People who were ministering to me and revealing God's love to me and they didn't even know it. They were simply being obedient to say what was on their hearts not knowing that He had placed those words there for a girl who so desperately needed to hear them.
And so it finally clicked. I realized He had been doing this all along, I just wasn't listening. I hadn't tuned my ears to hear because I was spending too much time telling Him how to speak to me. I spent too many conversations giving Him avenues and options for communication rather than opening my ears and intentionally listening for answers. And what I've finally figured out is that He speaks. He speaks loud and He speaks clear, but it's not always in the ways we expect. Maybe it's through a song, a concert, a sermon, a coffee date with a friend, lunch with someone you love, a tearful conversation in your living room, a trip across the world, a facebook message, an afternoon of shopping with your mom, a phone call from your brother, a card from a relative, or dinner with your family. The thing is, He doesn't just have one avenue He uses to speak to us. He is not limited to any particular way, and I've discovered that He often uses His children to speak truths and encouragement into the lives of one another. And so maybe we'll never see a burning bush, maybe we won't see the writing on the wall or hear His majestic voice thundering from the clouds, but He speaks just as powerfully no matter what the method may be. So listen, tune your ears, and you'll be surprised at how much you'll actually hear.
#256 - Because He hears us and is faithful to reply.
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." - John 10:27
But there are moments in life when you run out of words. Moments that leave you speechless and you don't even know what to say. And I have had those moments. Moments where I couldn't come up with words, where I couldn't even think of how to say what I felt. I became so desperate for help, so desperate for an answer. I needed it. I needed direction. I needed encouragement. I needed to hear His voice. I needed the peace that comes from hearing because silence can be deafening, silence can be frightening. And truthfully, when we spend time talking, when we are crying out, there's so much comfort in simply knowing that you have been heard. But the listener can't give confirmation if the talker doesn't listen. And the talker can't hear if their mouth is open and their ears are closed.
I began to notice, as I cried out for help and answers, that people would say the strangest things to me. I would specifically pray about something and within no time at all, someone would say exactly what I needed to hear. And this started happening a lot. My heart would be heavy, I would be desperately praying about something in particular, and I would get a message from a friend that would address the exact situation I had been praying about. And these people had no idea. They didn't hear my prayers, they didn't know what was on my heart, but God did. I quickly realized that He was using them to speak to me, to answer my questions, to give me guidance. These situations and conversations were not happening by coincidence. And I realized how many Godly people were in my life, how many wise people He had surrounded me with. People who were seeking after Him and because of that, were being used by Him. People who were ministering to me and revealing God's love to me and they didn't even know it. They were simply being obedient to say what was on their hearts not knowing that He had placed those words there for a girl who so desperately needed to hear them.
And so it finally clicked. I realized He had been doing this all along, I just wasn't listening. I hadn't tuned my ears to hear because I was spending too much time telling Him how to speak to me. I spent too many conversations giving Him avenues and options for communication rather than opening my ears and intentionally listening for answers. And what I've finally figured out is that He speaks. He speaks loud and He speaks clear, but it's not always in the ways we expect. Maybe it's through a song, a concert, a sermon, a coffee date with a friend, lunch with someone you love, a tearful conversation in your living room, a trip across the world, a facebook message, an afternoon of shopping with your mom, a phone call from your brother, a card from a relative, or dinner with your family. The thing is, He doesn't just have one avenue He uses to speak to us. He is not limited to any particular way, and I've discovered that He often uses His children to speak truths and encouragement into the lives of one another. And so maybe we'll never see a burning bush, maybe we won't see the writing on the wall or hear His majestic voice thundering from the clouds, but He speaks just as powerfully no matter what the method may be. So listen, tune your ears, and you'll be surprised at how much you'll actually hear.
#256 - Because He hears us and is faithful to reply.
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." - John 10:27