And Another Thing . . . Listening
My mother was told she would never survive childbirth. I am now an old man with two younger sisters and Mom is still alive and living well. My parents named me Samuel, which means “asked of God,” and one of the first Bible stories my mother taught me was the story of the man I was named after. Hannah, Samuel’s mom, was barren but she promised God that if He would let her have a son, she would give the boy back to Him. He did and she did.
While he was still a young boy, Samuel was taken to live in the temple with Eli, the head priest. One night, even though he was barely old enough to be in Junior Church, God called to Samuel. The story goes that he thought it was Eli calling and went to ask the old man what he wanted. This happened two more times before Eli realized what was up and told Samuel that the voice he was hearing belonged to God. That night Samuel learned the sound of a voice he would listen to the rest of his life. He would listen to, and then speak God’s words to the nation of Israel. He was a transformational figure in Jewish history serving as the last judge and the first major prophet. He learned, while still very young, to listen to God. His ability to hear and then speak what he heard is why we still talk about his life after all of these years. Samuel’s story was the story of God at this week’s Gathering.
No one can teach anyone the sound of God’s voice. Each person must make this discovery his or her own. Learning to listen, to recognize God’s voice, is an important milestone on the road to becoming a disciple. I believe that this is a lesson God is asking His people to learn in this moment.
Mike Elmore, MD, who has been discipling me for the past year, spoke at The Gathering this past weekend on the importance of listening to God. I had lunch with my good friend David Mullins this week and he told me that E91 is doing a series on listening to God. David also told me that Southland Christian Church in Lexington was in the middle of a series called “Listening to God.” Every morning I read Oswald Chamber’s, My Utmost for His Highest, and this week it was all about listening to God. Perhaps God is trying to tell me something. Perhaps he is trying to tell all of us something.
Mike suggested at this week’s Gathering that a great way to hear God’s voice is to commit to setting aside seven minutes a day for the purpose of listening. He said to find a “sacred space”—free of cell phones and easy interruptions – and a “sacred time”—usually early in the day—to sit still and ask God to speak. Mike suggested that we meditate on Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Jesus is waiting to be invited in. Take seven minutes every day to do just that.
I have been doing this exercise for many months and I am amazed at how God shows up during this time. He speaks when I stop, focus, and invite Him in. I am learning that God is not really silent as much as I am most of the time not really listening. So now, I am trying to listen more. I find that when I am able to do this I wind up being renewed.
We are all busy. And even though seven minutes sounds brief and even though the reward is high, it is surprising how hard I have to fight, sometimes, to accomplish this. It is as though the brakes on my life won’t engage to let me stop and focus. Perhaps there is a conspiracy out there to keep me moving, to keep me from listening to God. I am not really into conspiracy theories, but it feels that way sometimes.
Like this morning, I felt this pressure to finish my blog before I did my seven minutes. I felt like I needed to accomplish that goal first. Now, I feel like I need to stop writing and go listen.
And that’s all I have to say about that . . . for now.
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