“Are You Listening?”
This seems like the time people are planning, setting goals, and making resolutions to improve aspects of their lives. Some
folks want to remove some of the activities of life that have become distractions; while others seek ways to be more involved.
In either case, we are to seek God for direction and purpose. That means not only hearing from God but the more involved act
of listening.
“Hearing” is something most of us do without thinking much about it… which frequently causes misunderstandings and
problems; sometimes missing God altogether. “Listening” is the action of hearing, comprehending, responding and
applying. How many of us remember our parents’ correction, followed with the query, “Are you listening to me?” They wanted
to be sure that what they said “got in”, that we heard with understanding, and were inspired to DO something about what we
had heard. That was and is the question.
One of the earliest large scale Biblical examples of this occurred when the children of Israel began to hear God WITH Moses.
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and
when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but
let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his
fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness
where God was. (Exodus 20:18-21) Here, for the first time in 400 years, the descendants of Joseph are in a place where they
can see the power of God and hear Him clearly. Instead of praising God and rejoicing, they plead with Moses to be their go-
between so they could stand far off. Why? Because they didn’t mind hearing from God through Moses but they had no
intention of acting on what they had heard, so they didn’t listen. In the midst of this awesome opportunity to really HEAR, God
communicated a small list of requirements called the 10 commandments. The instant they drew back, that list of ten
requirements grew to hundreds of rules, covering various circumstances (see Exodus 21-23). Not listening to God for “the
ten” meant hundreds of carnal situations had to be addressed.
Now do you see the point? We are not trying to lay a burden of, “you’d better do a better job of listening to God, or else…” [did
that ever really work for your folks?]. The message is, that our Heavenly Father is calling us to expend the effort to dynamically
listen for Him. 1. Find out where He is [“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” (Psalm 22:3)]. 2. Find
out what pleases Him [“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, ….” (Hebrews 11:16a)]. 3. Believe He will respond
[…for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:
6b)]. 4. Get close to Him for ourselves and don’t give up on a prayer until we hear God speak with us! God will speak to
those who are really willing to respond to what we hear – LISTEN. The extra bonus is that, although there may be a few things
He will want us to change in us, His list is hundreds of times shorter now than it will be if we draw back. If that were not
enough, there is a third blessing to listening to God: “So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD
may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to
your fathers, because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command
you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.” [Deuteronomy 13:17-18]
OH! What an awesome God!
Love In Christ,
Gregory and Linda Emler
This seems like the time people are planning, setting goals, and making resolutions to improve aspects of their lives. Some
folks want to remove some of the activities of life that have become distractions; while others seek ways to be more involved.
In either case, we are to seek God for direction and purpose. That means not only hearing from God but the more involved act
of listening.
“Hearing” is something most of us do without thinking much about it… which frequently causes misunderstandings and
problems; sometimes missing God altogether. “Listening” is the action of hearing, comprehending, responding and
applying. How many of us remember our parents’ correction, followed with the query, “Are you listening to me?” They wanted
to be sure that what they said “got in”, that we heard with understanding, and were inspired to DO something about what we
had heard. That was and is the question.
One of the earliest large scale Biblical examples of this occurred when the children of Israel began to hear God WITH Moses.
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and
when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but
let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his
fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness
where God was. (Exodus 20:18-21) Here, for the first time in 400 years, the descendants of Joseph are in a place where they
can see the power of God and hear Him clearly. Instead of praising God and rejoicing, they plead with Moses to be their go-
between so they could stand far off. Why? Because they didn’t mind hearing from God through Moses but they had no
intention of acting on what they had heard, so they didn’t listen. In the midst of this awesome opportunity to really HEAR, God
communicated a small list of requirements called the 10 commandments. The instant they drew back, that list of ten
requirements grew to hundreds of rules, covering various circumstances (see Exodus 21-23). Not listening to God for “the
ten” meant hundreds of carnal situations had to be addressed.
Now do you see the point? We are not trying to lay a burden of, “you’d better do a better job of listening to God, or else…” [did
that ever really work for your folks?]. The message is, that our Heavenly Father is calling us to expend the effort to dynamically
listen for Him. 1. Find out where He is [“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” (Psalm 22:3)]. 2. Find
out what pleases Him [“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, ….” (Hebrews 11:16a)]. 3. Believe He will respond
[…for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:
6b)]. 4. Get close to Him for ourselves and don’t give up on a prayer until we hear God speak with us! God will speak to
those who are really willing to respond to what we hear – LISTEN. The extra bonus is that, although there may be a few things
He will want us to change in us, His list is hundreds of times shorter now than it will be if we draw back. If that were not
enough, there is a third blessing to listening to God: “So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD
may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to
your fathers, because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command
you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.” [Deuteronomy 13:17-18]
OH! What an awesome God!
Love In Christ,
Gregory and Linda Emler
