Learning to Listen

Close your eyes for a minute.  No, really.  Do it.  I’m not going to do anything weird; just close your eyes.  “But, Lisa, I’m trying to read your blog…”  Yup.  That’s why I said a minute.  Gives you a timeframe.  K, now, seriously.  Close your eyes.

 

Okay, you’re eyes are open again.

 

What did you hear?  What did you smell?  Did you taste anything?  Did anything touch you?  What did your senses tell you about the world around you?  Was that weird?  Uncomfortable?  Relaxing?  Peaceful?  What did your emotions tell you about this exercise?  How did you know it was time to open your eyes?

Why am I having you do this ludicrous exercise anyway?

Because the world around you is so much more than you can see.  I just spent an hour listening.  Initially it was to the conversation I was involved in.  Then as my years of experience kicked in, I was involved in the conversation but also listening to the people around me.  Too many people were talking all at once and I didn’t actually manage to hear much of the conversations going on around me, but there was suddenly comfort in hearing all the people around me.  Where last week or even this morning, that would have sent me into a tailspin, I needed to hear.  My eyes told me what I already knew: I was sitting in a room full of people, fellow students, my peers.  My ears told me something else entirely, something I needed for some reason: in the midst of the chaos, it is still possible to hear one voice distinctly.

When we talk about being still and knowing God, we often talk about getting time alone, away from the chaos.  But that’s not the context of this oft quoted verse.  In this Psalm (46), we see God’s amazing power that can cause or prevent significant weather patterns, His power to reshape the earth, and His power to impact nations.  These aren’t times of quiet.  They’re times of chaos, of crisis.  And yes, we do need to set aside time to be still and quiet before the Lord in quiet places.  But let’s be real here.  You and I, we live in a war zone, we are on assignment in enemy territory.  We can’t just take a break from the battle and be like, “Hey, forces of darkness, I need a time out.  Can we pause for a sec?”  Sure, we do have down times, times where the battle isn’t knocking on our door.  And we need to praise God for those times, using them to grow closer to Him.  But we also can’t live as if the battle doesn’t exist.  We need to get better at listening in those chaotic times.  We need to learn to realize that being still in the midst of the battle is listening for that one voice, the voice of our Commander.  How do we do that?  The same way we do in the silence.  Prayer and studying the battle plan (that would be the Bible).

So try it again.  Close your eyes.  Count to one hundred.  Listen.