A Lesson in Listening

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. Persistent sheets of it sloshing against the bedroom window in the early light, and me, in my bed, waking up to another Sabbath. My alarm had already alerted me to the start of the day, but my body and soul weren’t ready to go along with it.

Lord, just let me stay here a few more minutes. Let me listen to the wind and rain for a bit before starting it all over again.

And in the spirit of Sabbath day resting, I did.    

In that moment of choosing just a few minutes more of stillness, rest, calm, and listening, I found something in the well of my heart. I was bringing up a bucket, full of God’s Word, that had been stored deep in the dark for far too long:

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10

•••

What does it mean to listen? To truly listen? Especially when one considers listening to a holy God.

In my middle school classroom, I teach teens every day about the importance of active listening. The first studio procedure on my art classroom wall is this: “We will quietly and actively listen when someone is speaking.” And it is not an exaggeration to say that I reiterate this sentiment every single day as my kids struggle to listen and learn at the same time.

But who can blame them for their restlessness and poor listening skills? In reality, is anyone out there better at it than they are?

Surely, active listening involves good skills, which the Bible would affirm, such as not speaking over others, giving them good attention, and monitoring your expressions, tone, and body language. But at the end of the day, active listening is. . . well, active. It can be draining, and it can be difficult.

How well do you listen to other people? To your own teachers? Kids? Parents?

I know for myself that I have a long way to go.

•••

Scripture encourages us to “let a wise person listen and increase learning, and let a discerning person obtain guidance” (Proverbs 1:5). In the book of James, the half-brother of Jesus imparts this wisdom about listening: “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (James 1:19).

So, obviously, listening is an important part of living life well. And yet, I often question if I really listen to God at all! Sure, I try to obey Him, and I know His Word and let it take root through reading it, through being in community, through engaging in prayer and meditation. But do I listen?

If God spoke to me directly, would I even hear it?

•••

I think that I am in the middle of a season of life where I am trying to answer those questions. I want to know what it is to listen to the Lord, and to obey Him, and to know with some certainty that He is near and wants to say things to me.

He recently brought my mind back to my classroom, and as I thought about how frustrated I was that my students regularly ignored me and pretended as if I was not there, I felt the Holy Spirit gently admonishing me, like the rain against the window, that I do the same thing to God. It is not that I don’t know how to listen or that I don’t have the ability to do so. I just so frequently move past listening. I am quick to speak, to move, to do anything at all but be still.

I may think that I am actively listening, but in reality, I’m just being active.

And in my activity, I ignore what is all around me. I ignore the God who loves me, and I run right past the things He wants me to slow down and see. God wants His children to soak up the wonder of what He is doing in the world and to see Him for who He really is. We cannot do that if we are always running ahead to put out the fires around us (and believe me, I know there are some very real fires).

My counselor asked me a few days ago what my prayer life was like, which I thought was an odd and really perceptive question from someone who may or may not know the Lord. I told her my prayer life was very active, and she asked what that meant for me. I told her it meant a lot of lists, a lot of people I pray and intercede on behalf of, like my friends, coworkers, family, and students. She asked if I ever just sat and received prayer. I paused.

She wasn’t talking about others praying over me, though that is also a Biblical approach to a disciplined life. I think the Holy Spirit was moving her words to draw something out of that well in my soul again: I was noticing that I don’t do enough passive listening to the Lord. Not sitting in passivity as a form of laziness or anger, but a more meditative posture of listening: a conviction to sit and be still.

So here is my encouragement for you, wherever you are, physically and spiritually, whether you are a young person or old. Be still today. Listen to the spiritual rain that God is showering all around you. He is driving it against the window of your heart with His very breath. Listen to that, and wait.

“My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

John 10:27-28