LISTEN UP

I Samuel 3:10 “And Samuel replied, speak your servant is listening.”

Here’s a little brain teaser -- You are driving a bus. You go east 12 miles, and turn south and go 2 miles and take on 9 passengers, and then you turn west and go 3 miles and let off 4 passengers. How old is the bus driver?

The main problem that many people have when trying to answer this brain teaser is listening. A lot of the times, we latch onto certain information that we think is important in a question and then somehow, miss the most important part. When I first read this question, like many of you, I latched onto the directions (east, south, west), the distance and the number of passengers on the bus. Those are things that that are important right?

When I got to the end and it asked how old the bus driver is, I was dumb founded. “Wait a minute,” I thought, “how are we going to find the age of the bus driver from the information given?” I took a minute and looked at the numbers and wondered if there was some secret message in the numbers and maybe, if you added them together or something, it would work. It wasn’t for a few moments that I finally realized that the clue to this teaser was a simple, three letter word that starts the whole question off. “YOU are the bus driver.”

How often is it though that we have this same problem with listening in real life? Listening is so important in life and crucial to make relationships work. We all have built into us the need and want to be listened to. Being listened to communicates things like worth, value, love, and respect. How do you feel when you are pouring your heart to a friend and then find out that they weren’t listening to you? You feel hurt, upset, and like they don’t care about you. Listening is so important and yet we live in a day and age where there are so many distractions to listening that it makes it more and more difficult to do.

Again, listening is so important to any relationship, and that includes our relationship with Jesus. And in some ways, I would argue that it is even more important because I think the God of the Universe and the Creator of all things is someone to pay attention to when he speaks. So many people will say, “I just want to hear from God.” Well, are you listening? We are given a powerful example from young Samuel. Be prepared to hear and then respond.

God is speaking today whether you believe it or not. My challenge to all of us is to start listening. It is so important to make sure that we are taking time to “be still” and take the time to separate ourselves from the world and everything going on around us. This will help us to hear God’s still, small voice and refresh our souls with what and how God sounds like. On top of all that, we must respond as God calls our name. He will not force Himself on us but instead wait for us to be ready and purposefully listen to His leading. The question is, are you ready?