Are you Listening?

Elijah & Gigi have a focused mission for their day that lasts from sunrise to sunset –PLAY. They can’t get enough of it. I love watching their imagination and innocence flourish as they romp around through their young and free lives enjoying the simplicity of racing cars along the hardwood floors, flying toy airplanes through the air, and throwing balls up into the sky. The only problems is when we need to interrupt that play – somehow when we ask a question or proclaim a change in their plans they loose their capacity to hear us.

Simple statements like –

• Lets come eat
• Please pick up your toys
• Please don’t take that toy from your sister
• Please don’t throw that toy at your sister
• Please don’t pull the dogs tail
• Lets not take out every can of green beans in the pantry

When these phrases come out of our mouth its as if our children’s capacity to hear gets turned off and they ignore our voice entirely.  I find myself regularly repeating the phrase – “Are you listening?”  I so wish I only had to state the question once – but most of the time I don’t get their attention until the 2nd or 3rd time through the question.

I wonder if God is asking the same question to us.

As we romp around our lives filled with routine, task, responsibility, desire, hope, dreams, relationships, plans and prayers – I wonder if God is gently whispering – “Are you listening?” And because we are so locked into what we are doing – maybe we can’t see what He is revealing in our stories.

Most of us long to hear from God – we long to hear His voice, His direction, His prompting, His opinion on whether we should choose option A or B – and we find ourselves frustrated and stuck wondering why He does not speak the same way he did in the Old Testament – or why he won’t burn up a bush or throw some manna on the grass in our front yard each morning.  I have often felt this way and I have been learning to listen to God in new ways – through my own story.

“Do you ever feel stuck, just going through the motions, not hearing from God, and not feeling any passion about your life? It’s easy to land there if you’re not listening to your story. God writes our story with great passion and desire , and he reveals our own passion and desires as we read and listen to our story.“

• To be Told – Dan Allendar

So if you are a little stuck today maybe you can quiet down and listen to God whispering through your own story.  A few great questions to hear what he might be saying…

• Who am I?
• What about God am I most uniquely suited to reveal to others?
• How is that meaning in my life best lived out?

I think it is very healthy, human, and honest to wrestle with the question of “Does God speak?” but maybe a more important question to ponder is – If He is speaking – “Are you listening?

Some Similar Thoughts...

• God Doesn’t Need You…
• THEY will not suffer for OUR Sacrifice
• Sabbath Saturday