Listening is a skill that some are born with, and others learn, but I think everyone can become skilled at listening. The biggest challenge is, who do you listen to? The most important thing we can do as a Chrisitan is to listen to God, but the next question is always, how?
Little Shannan, who loved and followed Jesus, just wanted him to show up in my room and tell me the plan as he did with people in the Bible, but that never happened. And as I got older, I was hoping to connect with verses in the Bible like other people seemed to and get a special message just for me, but that never happened the way I hoped it would. I’ve realized over a lifetime of following Jesus that he speaks to us in many ways if we’re listening and open to what he has to say.
Ways We Hear from God
The Holy Spirit
When you’re following Jesus, at least for some of us, listening to the Holy Spirit is one of the weirdest things to talk about. And if people are honest, it’s a little weird to talk about even if you’re on board and in tune with the Holy Spirit. I’m probably in the middle of those two spaces. I grew up in a church that believed in the Holy Spirit, but we didn’t really talk about him, and we definitely didn’t talk to him. Now I’m working on growing in that part of my relationship with God, but it still feels weird to talk about hearing from God or messages from the Spirit.
The thing about the Spirit talking to us is it can be unique based on the person. I know someone who says every time she sees a cardinal, it feels like God is talking to her and saying he sees her. That’s not the case for me. Some people say they hear audible words from God. I think the biggest way The Spirit talks to me right now is through little thoughts and nudges. The kind of things that, if you don’t act quickly, you’ll probably forget about. Usually, it’s how to help others or involve others in my life, but sometimes it’s the answer to something personal I’ve been struggling with.
The Bible
Reading the Bible is a less weird way and the most common way to hear from God. The Bible is God’s inspired word through human authors, proof that God works through us and with us for his message to be heard. But I’ll be honest, one of my frustrations growing up was that the Bible wasn’t specific to my modern-day life struggles. I wanted the Bible to specifically say what I should or shouldn’t do in certain situations. I’ve come to realize that God tells you how to be in Jesus, and that applies to all situations, regardless of age or stage of life. Things like how we should live our lives, and how we should treat others. And even when we don’t do that, God will forgive us and still use us in his plan, and even if we refuse to be used, God will still make a plan around or through us (i.e., pharaoh and King Saul.)
When we start looking at the Bible more as a show rather than a tell, we start to see how God shows up and uses broken, messed-up people; and it helps us pay attention a little better when he uses those same methods with us.
Other Christians
So many times in the Bible, God used people to communicate with individuals or groups. God used Nathen to tell King David he messed up; the prophets to tell Isreal what to do and not do; and Peter told the other Jewish Christians that Gentiles were now welcome, and then Paul called Peter out for not acting like the Gentiles were welcome. So as you grow in your faith, God may send people into your life to speak the truth or help correct you. He may also use you to help others grow in their life or see blind spots. This is why attending large gatherings and smaller groups is so important to growing in our faith. When we’re on our own, we can easily lead ourselves to believe that we’re doing it right, but with others to evaluate life together based on how Jesus lived, there is a better chance of correction before things get too difficult to correct.
But how do you listen?
So those are the ways God talks to us, but how do we actually hear him? It’s about slowing down enough to listen. So often, I always wanted to speed read the Bible or listen to a bunch of people talk about the topic I needed answers on and have that magically answer my questions and solve my problems. Sometimes I got the answers I was looking for, but having them impact my life took time. And then there were the times when nothing seemed to answer my life questions at all. I just kept talking to God and asking for answers, and nothing was happening. The reason is that the consistency of time spent listening to God makes it easier to hear him in the day-to-day. Meaning if I’m not spending time listening to God regularly, how will I know his voice or how he talks to me when I really need to hear from him? Waiting until there is a problem and then rushing through resources to get an answer isn’t a relationship; it’s a reference book.
So slowing down and listening to God is how you actually hear from God. And it’s how you know if what you’re hearing is actually from God. A lot of people can say things that sound like God, but when you really listen to what they’re saying, it has nothing to do with him. That is why studying the Bible is so important. God doesn’t contradict himself. So he won’t tell you to do something that goes against something he’s already set as a way of life for us.
As you grow in your ability to listen to God, this will also grow your ability to listen to others. And being able to listen to others is also a key skill for Christians. Christianity is one of the few things that you join, and it stops being about you.
I think Christians have a bad rap of talking a lot but not listening to others. We tell them what we think about them and what we think they need to know, but we don’t actually listen to them and, by extension, get to know them. Listening is key to everything we do as Christians as we build our relationships with God and others. So the best advice I can give about how to listen well is “Be Curious.” When you’re curious about someone, you’re asking questions and focused on their answers; you want to find out more about them, genuinely, and you’re not worried about what you’re going to say. If we were more curious about others, I think we naturally become better listeners and better at relationships.
So try being curious about someone this week. Either someone you know really well or someone you just met, and try to listen more than you talk.
Stay Weird,
