It was a beautiful finish. But then, this was not my first job. I carefully prepared the area. I removed all material that was unacceptable. I directed the driver to back the truck with the gigantic yellow rotating drum up to the curb. I poured the concrete the same way I had for years. With my trowel in hand I finished the surface to perfection. I even formed a unique little swoop around a bulging tree trunk that was in the way of my work. A sweet breeze blew through the oak trees and carried the birds overhead while they whistled to the rhythm of my work. I felt like a chef who carefully placed the final leaf of parsley on a work of culinary perfection. The new freshly poured city sidewalk section I just finished looked absolutely perfect. I went to my truck to put my tools away.
That's when I saw him-but initially I didn't think anything of it. An older gentleman was walking down the sidewalk right towards my freshly finished work of art. From a considerable distance I said "Sir, that is wet concrete right there." Although still not alarmed, I got a vision of my perfect slab with a big nasty footprint right in the middle. I got no response from the man so again I said, "Sir," a little louder this time, "You are about to walk into wet concrete." The man was not looking down and he continued firmly walking straight ahead.
I began to get a whole new vision now. I envisioned him stepping into the wet concrete and tripping as the terrain changed. Then I saw him falling forward, face first into my wet concrete, his Stetson cotton safari hat flying ahead of him and floating down just out of arms reach.
"Sir...", I yelled, turning to run in his direction, but it was too late. He walked right into the wet concrete and then stood there looking down as if to surmise why the sidewalk suddenly softened under his feet. It became immedataley apparent to him that he was standing in wet concrete. It was equally apparent that I was rather disappointed. He backed up, stepping out carefully and went on his way. "I'm sorry sir." I said. He looked over at me when I was talking so he must have heard something, but he didn't seem to hear me and just went on his way...
I am not sure what happened that day. I'm glad he did not fall. Should I have hollered louder? I could have put up my barrier tape sooner-that might have helped. Maybe other background noise prevented his hearing. Maybe he was deaf. Maybe he was depressed. Maybe the pain in his heart prevented his hearing. I'll never know. Either way, he wasn't listening or he couldn't hear me.
Sometimes it is like that with God. Either we can't hear or we are not listening. God has spoken and God still speaks. We have his recorded word. We pray and speak with God and he speaks back to us. We know he does. Sometimes, though, we don't hear. Maybe we are not listening. Maybe we are distracted by the background noise of life. Maybe we are too distracted by the events ahead of us. Maybe we don't look down long enough to see where we are walking, or up long enough to see where we are going. Maybe the pain in your heart has stopped up your ears for God.
An important part communication with God in prayer is listening. Effective communication includes both speaking and listening. Even if communication is not oral, it still involves delivery and reception. God is speaking, so how do we listen to God?
The previous study helped us to see and remove roadblocks from our prayers. If prayer is both speaking and listening to God, after the barriers are removed, how can we learn to listen better? Listening to God is learning to hear his voice. We hear his voice in more ways than just reading the word. Reading and obeying the Bible is an important way to hear from God. We must learn to hear God in all the different ways he speaks. Notice first some prerequisites to hearing and understanding the voice of God. Second, we will look at the ways he speaks to us. And third, some tips for effective listening.
It was not uncommon for me to supervise a jobsite when I was in business with a number of my employees, as well as employees from other subcontractors. When I gave instructions, the employees who were not mine did not hear me. They may have been aware that I was speaking, but they did not hear it. My words were of no consequence to them. They were not on my team. If they were on my team, they would have been listening for instructions and planning to obey them. Non-Christians may be aware that God is talking; they may even think the Bible might be his word to us. But without a relationship, without being on the team, in the Lord's service, it is all background noise. If you cannot hear the voice of God because you know you do not know him, you are not on his team, pray and ask God to open your ears so you can hear him.
Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to listen and understand someone you know well compared to someone you don't know? I am a pretty fast talker (not like "con-man" fast, but "lots of words" fast). Those with whom I have a relationship have no trouble understanding me. If I am with someone new, I often have to repeat myself. The other person does not understand me well because we are not familiar with each other. So it is in the family of God. Maybe your listening skills are dull because you are not listening for God. Stay in relationship. Speak and listen often to God. You can hear him speak. You can recognize the voice of the Lord. His sheep hear his voice and they listen and follow.
Maybe you are aimless and wandering. Maybe you are wandering because you haven't been listening. Our loving father welcomes us back with arms wide open if we repent. If you realize you have not been listening to God, maybe God is convicting you right now of your sin. It is a sin to be cold toward God. It is a sin to not be listening, to lose interest in God's voice.
A huge obstacle for some people in listening to others is they think they already know what is being discussed. Have you ever been giving directions for a group activity and realize some were not listening? As soon as the activity starts, they don't know what is happening. They thought they knew it all. So it is with God. We must remain ever aware of our limited understanding, our dullness in hearing, our complete dependence on God for all things, or we will be prideful and think we don't need to listen. God has ways of getting out attention. Listen faithfully for his voice so he does not have to raise his voice.
Imagine for a moment that you are on a pleasure cruise ship. You are having a wonderful time until you notice a big thud like noise and a jolt that makes you quite uncomfortable. Your apprehension continues to increase until you find out that the ship has hit an obstacle and is doomed to sink. The pleasure cruise is going to come to and end and there is nothing you can do. Someone is giving instructions for how to be saved and all the sudden the safety placards that tell you how to find and safely install a life jacket are very important to you. Time is of the essence. You might be floating in the ocean at any moment. You assess carefully all the lifeboats and their locations. Then something strange happens. You notice that you are one of only a few who are getting ready for the inevitable demise of the cruise ship. You begin to shake people and say listen, we are going down! The boat is not going to make it! Get ready! They laugh at you and tell you to calm down and relax. You say to them, "Hey, this is really serious. You must get instructions or you will not survive." You hang on every word the captain speaks. You remove any unnecessary items because they may risk your life. You follow instructions without complaint. You toss your jewelry, you take off your shoes, you realize, I must listen, I must understand, I must pay attention. My life depends on it. The same is true in the Christian life. The ship we live on is going to crash, and when it does, it is serious. God is serious about the coming end. The Christian should take the words of our Lord and Captain very seriously.
In my opening story the man walked into my wet concrete. More than likely, he couldn't hear me. Maybe there was other noise that blocked my voice. Maybe the birds were too loud. I don't know, but he couldn't or didn't hear, for whatever reason. I sometimes fear I miss the still small voice of the Lord when there is too much other noise in my life. Jesus got alone to hear form God. We must do the same. Get away from the noise of life. Get alone with God. Turn off the TV, the radio, whatever it takes. I often times kneel at a chair and put a blanket over my head because it makes little distracting sounds go away. Go on a prayer retreat. Find the right closet, or shed, or space where you can be alone with God. Praying together like we do in a prayer service is good, but sometimes you just need to be quiet before God and listen. God will speak.
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Copyright © 2005 by Kevin Binkley