What Does Listening Have to do With Anything?

Throughout the years I have had groups of students who, for whatever reason, have significant challenges with listening. This lack of listening skill permeates negatively throughout our days into a variety of activities and tasks.

As their teacher, I model behaviours and expectations, present information in a variety of ways, and say things more than once, etc. – yet to no avail. They continue to barrel ahead in their own way, regardless of instructions.

Needless to say, there are many more things done wrong than there should be. There is disrespect shown to people who are speaking. There are complications when steps are missed in procedures.

How often we adults can have the same problem in our relationship with God. He provides us the instruction we need but we don’t take heed. God must surely shake His head at times at our stubbornness to do things our own way and our disregard of His instruction.

Scripture clearly states the value of listening:

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.” (Proverbs 19:20 NIV)

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and the discerning get guidance.” (Proverbs 1:5 NIV)

We can gain so much from the experience and knowledge of others, especially from our all-knowing God. These verses from Proverbs clearly tie together wisdom and listening.

I am definitely guilty of just blundering ahead with my own ideas and not taking heed to God’s direction. Do you ever do that? We can get very myopic and see only our own way of thinking and doing. We end up like my students sometimes – stuff that shouldn’t be complicated, is, just because we didn’t follow instructions.

Wise apprentices take note of their supervisor’s way of doing things and delve into their mentor’s knowledge bank. That is how students add to their learning and grow and develop. Gaining wisdom is a process.

So often, my requests to God are to give me guidance. God promises it to us if we listen, as Proverbs says. There is a key word connected to this thought – discerning. There is a lot of information out in our world. It takes great wisdom and discernment to know which is godly and which is worldly information.

Now is the time to humble ourselves before Almighty God and listen to His Word as this is the predominate way He speaks to us. Yes, we won’t always like what we hear; but we need to consider what God is telling us and truly listen with our hearts to His message of love for us.

Open your ears. Open your heart. Open your life to what God is trying to teach you. Your life will be extraordinary because of it.

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