As a child, I wasn’t much of a talker. I just didn’t have much to say. And I noticed that what I wanted to say wasn’t always the same as what I actually said. Sometimes it would come out as a stutter. Other times it would come out as an unintelligible word. Occasionally, it was a combination of two words. And every now and then, a completely different word altogether.
Perhaps it’s just a mild speech impediment. But to me it was a big deal.
A really big deal.
A self-consciously big deal.
So instead of talking, I started listening. Even today, I’m a man of few words. I prefer to hear what other people have to say. What I’ve heard over the years has been fascinating and intriguing at times while drab and long-winded at other times. But I still listen. It has helped me to learn about people. What makes them tick. Why they think and act the way they do. What they like and dislike. Where they are in life and where they want to be.
It also helped me to realize early on: people often talk when they should be listening. Exodus 15:26 says, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”
Need healing for something? Try putting this verse into action. Start listening to God.
Too often we talk to Him when we should be listening. There’s nothing wrong with talking to God. Talking to God is a good thing. I talk to Him quite often. It’s something that every Christian should do constantly. But do we ever take the time to be still and know that He is God? Or do we treat him like a vending machine, going to Him every time we need something?
Perhaps, we need to resist the urge to give Him our laundry list of things we want Him to do for us, and instead listen to what He wants us to do for Him. Resist the urge to do all the talking and learn to listen to His voice. When we hear and know His voice, we’re able to have real conversations with Him. And when we’re able to have real conversations with Him, that’s where intimacy comes in. And that’s what it means to have a relationship with our Lord.
Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” – Acts 28:28
James Lee has been thinking outside of the box his entire life, and consequently, he had so many childhood dreams that he lost track of them a long time ago. Random facts: a motorbike accident once left James in the emergency room of a Thai hospital, he has met Mr. T, and he’s an avid football fan (but doesn’t really have a favorite team). James is most drawn to the character of Joseph in the Bible because he didn’t do anything wrong, was punished, and yet he still kept his faith.
