Did you hear what I said? Have you ever asked someone this question?
Experts say that the average person actually remembers a fraction of what is said to them. Why is this important? Because the way we are with people is the way we are with God, you see this principle in 1 John 4:20, you don’t all of a sudden become a good listener with God if you’re not a good listener with people. We can easily miss what someone is saying especially if they are not loud, obnoxious and in your face fighting for your attention. If we zone out, space off and get distracted when people are talking to us then more than likely we are doing that with God too. A communication expert said “One of the reasons for difficulty listening is because there is too much stimulation around us.” Isn’t this the truth?! There are both internal and external distractions everywhere and this is exactly what the enemy wants because these distractions affect our ability to hear, not just from people but from God as well. Listening is a skill that must be developed both naturally and spiritually but often we want God to be our loud obnoxious friend who yells and talks over us to get our attention, which is easier than tuning out all the noise and distractions and really is a form of walking by sight. The Lord mainly speaks to us in the “still small voice” not the hurricane, earthquake and fire. Let’s train ourselves to become good listeners and we’ll see that the same skill we develop listening to people will help us listen to God.
1 Kings 19:11-12 And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
