Listen to me

Listening has been a topic of interest at our house lately. I want to become a better listener. For my children, listening can let them know that they are important and I care. For Tyrone, listening can let him know I support him at work, as head of our household and a my partner in life. However, I like to be heard too. I find myself almost constantly saying things like...

"Listen to me."
"Why don't you listen to me?"
"You never listen to me."
"I have told you 3 times. LISTEN!"
"Do you have cottonballs in your ears?"
"Do you heard the words that are coming out of my mouth?"
"Am I talking to myself?"
"I told you that would hurt. If you would have listened..."

Most of the time I hear a whisper in my ear right after I fuss at someone for not listening. The whisper says the statement right back to me. I believe it is the Holy Spirit reminding me that God is talking to me and I fail to listen too. I didn't know how much marriage and parenting would parallel my relationship with God. I guess that makes sense since he is the author of relationships.

I was hanging out with the kids in our bedroom last night. They love doing that because entrance into our bedroom is by invitation only. I decided to read the Bible with them. It's something we haven't done for a while and need to start doing regularly especially since Jeremiah is reading now. We bopped around to a few familiar verses then ended up in Genesis reading the story of Noah and the Flood. What an incredible story of God's faithfulness and eternal promise. And way to go Noah for being obedient! Obedient to build the ark in spite of criticism from onlookers. Obedient to wait on God through the rain inspite of curiosity and wanting to bring others on the boat to "save them". Obedient to wait for God's instruction before exiting the ark. I think it would have been a bit challenging to live on a boat with animals and no windows for 6 months.

How can I be obedient if I don't listen to God? How can I demonstrate my love for God if I am not obedient to him? John 14:15 says "If you love me, you will keep My commandments." Ouch! So I can't just say I love you God and go about the rest of my day having checked him off my "to do" list. It's more like a back and forth conversation as I go from task to task. More listening on my part than talking so I can hear God's instructions. More reading his word and meditating on it so he can direct my decisions.

James 1:22-25 "²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Like I hope to get from my family, God wants me to listen to him not only so I can hear his voice, but so I can be obedient to him and do as he commands. He wants to have an intimate relationship with me to show his love and protect me from harm. Listening takes a lot of effort and it takes discipline. It is easier said than done most times, but so very worth it when I show God how much I love him by being obedient.

Maiesha fell a couple nights ago and hit her head on the hardwood floor. She was trying to stand on a ball. Of course, it rolled out from under her and she hit the floor hard. She was doing something we have told her not to do a number of times. We scooped her up and checked for a concussion. We comforted her and put a pack of ice on her head. We wiped her tears and loved her inspite of her bad choice.

Thank you God for not just wagging your finger at me and saying "I told you so." Thank you for loving me unconditionally and sending Jesus to save me.