A McDonald’s playground can be summed up into words: controlled chaos. A slew of children climb up and down and through a multi colored maze, laughing and shouting. And in a ring around them, their parents sit at tables chatting or on their cellphones. And all enclosed in a big glass box.
Recently when I went to hang out with a friend in one of these places I noticed something that I’d always taken for granted before. A child would cry out “Mom.“ Nearly every adult would look up. But only one would get up, responding to her child’s voice. Conversely, when a parent called their child’s name, only one out of all that crowd of kids would answer her.
Amazing. Amid all that noise, each parent could pick out the sound of their own child’s voice. And in the same way, each child recognized the voice of his or her parent.
How can they do that? Repetition. It is because as long as the child has been alive–even when he was unborn—he has been hearing his mom speak. Conversely, since her child’s birth, the mom has been keenly attuned to his cry, and then his voice.
Listening is important.
Isaiah described in chapter 30: “Your ears to hear a word behind you, saying, “this is the Way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21 NASB. But how do we know that it is God speaking? If we want to follow God we need to be able to distinguish what He is saying from the clamor of noise in our brain. How does that happen?
- Repeated exposure to God’s word. Knowing God’s word helps us to understand the kinds of things He might be saying, and what He would definitely not say.
- Incorporating God’s truth into our lives and thinking. When God’s truth has settled deep into our hearts, it becomes easier to recognize His voice, because it resonates with the truth we already know.
- Practice. When we regularly taking the time to be still enough, quiet enough, to hear what God is saying specifically to us, we get better at it.
There is an old saying “practice makes perfect.” But I much prefer the one that says “practice makes progress.” We are never going to hear God’s voice 100% accurately 100% of the time, but as we practice listening to Him we will get better and better at it. We will make progress and feel much more comfortable in knowing when He is speaking. And then have much greater confidence in knowing how He might be leading us.
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all who are his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.” John 10:2-5 BSB
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:27-28
Have you made a practice of listening for God’s voice?
Don’t miss the other posts in this series!
First Things First, Part 1: #1 On My To-Do List
First Things First, Part 2: The Key
First Things First, Part 3: Listen
First Things First Part 4: How God Can Speak Through the Bible
First Things First, Part 5: How to get back on track with God when life happens
[…] First Things First, Part 6: Why Listening to God is So Important […]