Bending to Hear the Secrets

In the fall of 2022, I felt like I wasn’t being a good listener or had gotten a little lazy. So, I took 7 days and contended to be a better listener. My secret place became a spiritual ear cleaning, conditioning, and bending to hear the secrets God is breathing*.

Because listening and proximity to Jesus are one of the impressions I had for this year, I wanted to share 7 things that marked me during this time. I hope they encourage you.

1. Fear Inhibits Hearing
First things first, fear inhibits hearing. For me, in this particular season, I was afraid of being disappointed (again). When that fear is allowed room in my heart and mind, it blocks actual listening to what God is trying to say. Maybe your fear is different from mine. Either way, we can’t fear what he is going to say. Fear makes us stop listening. The Lord is a good shepherd and trustworthy.

2. The Voice of the Lord is Powerful
It occurred to me that my resistance to listening was stubborn. Stiff-necked. So, I meditated on scriptures that specifically talked about God speaking. Amazing! Psalm 29, in particular, got my attention. The voice of the Lord is powerful. It’s powerful for every situation. Need creativity? He’s speaking. Need wisdom? He’s speaking. Need comfort, logistics, the right words, the right move? He’s speaking. I don’t want to miss his voice. I want to hear what he has to say because, ultimately, as David concludes, it is strength and peace.

3. Distractions
“What is keeping me from listening, Jesus?” At this point, I wanted to know everything that was inhibiting hearing. In addition to my fear, I had two distractions at that time: Urgency, a.k.a my to-do list, and multiple devotions. I wanted too many things, and my heart was dividing. We have to figure out what is distracting us from taking the time to listen and give it the boot. Nothing — no thing–is more important than making the time to listen to God respond. When his voice is our treasure, everything else falls into its rightful place. Otherwise, everything is a distraction. (Matthew 6:19-34)

4. Listening is a Choice
I also meditated on passages when God and Jesus were listening to people. He is a good listener. God doesn’t have to incline his ear to us. Yet, he does. And if I understand correctly, he LOVES it. And then, there are passages when Jesus was listening to the Father. He chose to lean into what the Father was saying and then obey. I want to be a good listener because God has good things to say. I want to be a good listener because I want to be more like Jesus. So I choose to listen and diligently seek him.

5. Get to a Desolate Place / Remove other Voices
It is mentioned many times in the Gospels that Jesus would go to a desolate place and pray. Desolate places were devoid of visitors—no other voices and influences. It was just Jesus and the Father. Jesus taught us to do the same, go into our room and close the door (Matthew 6:6). There is something about removing ourselves from noise, rejecting other influences, and getting alone with God to commune with him.

6. The Whims
Then there are the passages when people were listening to the Holy Spirit—like, the entire book of Acts, for example. He interrupts their day, mission, and to-do list with a kingdom adventure. The Holy Spirit is a crucial part of listening to God. He is a gift to us and often speaks on a whim. You know, the out-of-nowhere nudges and whispers. The willingness to follow those spontaneous promptings, I believe, is strengthened in our times of diligently listening.

7. No Shortcuts
The last note I made was there is no shortcut to listening. Listening takes patience. The willingness to slow down in the day. The willingness to wait for what seems like forever for a response. The decision not to move until we hear. There is no shortcut. Listening is a form of persevering. And perseverance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5:4).

Friends, we are on a life-long journey of pursuing God. Every turn, every season, is an invitation to stay aligned with him and go a little further into the deep riches of his heart. Don’t stop listening. He is speaking, and it is good.

*Lyric from “Responding” by Kelanie Gloeckler