Listen

I'm not always good at listening. 


I'm good at knowing what I want.  I'm good at figuring out ways to explain it.  I'm good at moving forward with what I think is best.


But listening sometimes takes a back seat -- yet it's one of the most important things I can do.


When I hear negative words - words that scream, "This is stupid. I hate this. Why are you torturing me?" it's easy to react.  It's easy to fuel the fire, to belittle, to shift into outrage.  As a human, it's a natural reaction to say, "Hey, you NEED this, so just do it."


However, if you listen instead of react, you can be surprised at what is really being said.  "I don't know how to do this.  I'm afraid of feeling stupid.  I need you to show me that it's going to be okay."


That creates a vastly different scene.  It causes a different outcome.  It has the potential to change a future.


It's not always easy.  In a society bent on doing more, being more, the quiet whisper of true words often is trampled.  It is so easy to get caught up in it all.  To worry, to rage, to do, to be, to rush, etc.


Therefore I need time to stop myself - to get centered with my relationship with God - to put things on an even keel again.  To listen.


Because even though I try and figure things out for myself, what I can achieve alone is, well, nothing.  It's material - temporary - fleeting.  What I can achieve through God is so much more than I can ever imagine. 


I don't pretend to understand why things happen.  Horrible things do happen - to good people even.  Instead I need to focus on listening to His will and reaching out with the skills that He has loaned me.  I have to drag through the horrible with a focus on Him.


I will tell you this, it's always easier when it's with a listening ear.  When I'm focused on what He needs me to hear, life is happier.  It makes more sense.  Even in the middle of the horrible, He gives me hope.


Of course I need to go through this process a few million times.  I'm pretty slow.


So tomorrow I challenge myself to listen more - to hear the true words being said.  I challenge myself to listen more -- to focus on others instead of myself.  I challenge myself to listen to Him.