Listen!

When we were kids, I don't remember my mother ever telling us to be quiet or to shut up. She always said--with varying levels of intensity, "Listen!"

I remember driving home from our grandparents house one time. I was probably in 5th grade. Something came on the radio--news mom wanted to hear--and the 2 or 3 or 4 of us in the back of the car were being, well, kids. We were noisy. (This is before the days of DVD players in cars or tablets and phones. Yes, I'm an old dude.)

I have no idea what was so important, but she was insistent: LISTEN! (Probably the 14th time she had to say it.)

I wonder if her word to us kids was a shadow of what God is is calling all of His kids to do.

LISTEN!

Listen, first, to our Heavenly Father. He has so much to say, all which is better than anything we could hear from someone else. Anyone else.
     Listen to Him by reading the scriptures with an open ear. (He who has ears to hear, let him hear...)
     Listen to Him by the promptings in your mind and heart. If you sense you should do something godly, there's a good chance God gave you that sense. Make the phone call. Send the text. Stop and help.
     Listen to Him by listening to those in your faith community. If you hear something that you disagree with, spend time understanding better before you respond in any way.

Can I just pause here to say that for most of my life I've been terrible at this? I have a habit of listening to the people I want to, but not to the people I don't agree with.

I'm learning a great deal about this from my pastor (aka boss). I'm not sure the best way for you to learn, but I know there's a book that has served him really well. In fact, he just walked the whole staff through a session he created that was inspired by the book. So check out Thanks for the Feedback.

And maybe you'll hear the Father's voice coming from the front seat...

Listen!