Listening

There is an important life-skill that at which I’m not naturally adept.  I’ve had to work at this - I’m still working on it, and probably always will.  Can I blame genetics?  Could I say this is my parents’ fault? (Unfortunately, no.)

I’ve always been more of a talker than a listener.  There are undoubtedly a plethora of reasons why that is.  In reality, being able to speak well is an important skill.  Even more important is the ability to listen well.  Not simply hearing, but listening.

There are some things to which my listening is finely attuned.  I can hear - I listen for - subtle changes in the sounds the car or motorcycle engines make.  I pick up on nuances in my wife’s voice.  I can hear the charming bells of the ice cream truck in the middle of a jack-hammer convention.  I’m tuned in.  I hear these things because I’m listening for them.

So, do I hear the voice of God?

Yes I do . . . but let me clarify:  what is the “voice of God?”

Moses clearly heard God’s voice.  God gave him the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament).  God spoke to him in the burning bush.  Throughout their wanderings in the wilderness, God continued to give directions to Moses.

Elijah heard God’s voice (1 Kings 18).  Abraham heard God’s voice (Genesis 18).  The clearest reading of these texts would indicate they literally heard a voice.  God talked with them just as we talk with one another;  God spoke.

Does God talk to me the same way?  No, (at least, He hasn’t yet!).  Yet I believe God still speaks to me.  How does He do that?  What does He say?

Saying “God speaks to me” is a misnomer if we assume we will have an Elijah-Moses-Abraham type experience.  However, our relationship with God is neither static nor based on our ability to conjure up an experience.  We worship the living God, Creator of heaven and earth.  He is active and engaged in His creation.  So, how does He “speak?”  What does He say?

There are several ways we may say God “speaks.”  Romans 8:16 says, “the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God.”  That is a real and dynamic interaction.  In that same section, Paul also says we are given life by the Spirit and we are led by the Spirit into righteousness.  That can’t happen in a vacuum.  Somehow, God is “speaking” to us.  He is engaging with our hearts.

How do we learn to listen to God?  There are two faith-skills that help us become good listeners:  focusing and filtering.

Focusing is the skill of being intentional to slow down, to recalibrate and contextualize the busyness and noisiness of life into a framework where God alone is the centre.  It is a skill.  It requires an understanding of who God is and what the nature of His created order is like.  It takes time to learn.  It happens when we choose to be quiet and and discipline our minds to answer the question, “Where is God in all of this?”  It isn’t easy.  With so many demands on our time and the ease with which we can be interrupted (thanks to smart phones/watches) it is hard to slow down the pace at which our minds race.  Nonetheless, stopping to focus on God is essential to “hearing” Him.  In these moments the Spirit of God will bring to mind the truths of Scripture reminding us of the nature and character of our God.

Based on focusing, filtering is the lens through which we engage in life.  As our focusing skills improve, so also the sharpness of our lens.  Our perspective becomes more and more that of the Kingdom of God.  The temporal is oriented to the eternal instead of the other way around.  The upside-down values of the Kingdom become our default priorities.  

We won’t hear God dictating specific instructions to us, but we will become sensitized to those moments when we can represent Him well by sharing an encouraging word with someone, by being present with people, perhaps meeting a physical need, and responding to those “unexplained inner promptings” (as Chuck Swindoll would say).  There are moments when we just “get the idea” to phone someone or to serve in some way.  THAT is God “speaking” to us.

There are also the more uncomfortable moments when the Spirit of God “speaks,” helping us recognize the sinful actions or habits that are still part of our reality.  Conviction, although not pleasant, is a necessary part of growing in our faith.  Righteousness matters.  Forgiveness is real.  God speaks, we respond.

The psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God.”  He is not referring to a mystical, esoteric experience where we empty our minds and enter the great spiritual void.  He IS teaching us to pause, reflect, and recast this moment in time within the context of God’s sovereign authority (“even if the mountains fall into the sea” - would there be any greater traumatic event in the natural world?).

The big question, then, is this:  HOW do we sharpen our listening skills, learning to focus and filter?  I’m going to leave you hanging - and thinking about - that one until next Monday . . .