Perfecting the Art of Listening

Yesterday I read a few chapters in Jeremiah (27, 28, and 29). Most of the verses that these chapters were composed of repeated one another. There was a reoccurring theme so I decided that was my God Experience for the day (which is funny because I listened to what God was trying to teach me and it fit right in with the verses! Funny how it works out like that.....almost if it was planned......hummm....). The verses consist of God giving instructions to the people and reminding them to listen to His words and not the conflicting words of the Prophets, wise men, dream interpreters etc. God gave them instructions about what was going to happen to them and how they were expected to deal with the situation (the situation not being from the Jersey Shore but being King Nebuchadnezzar).

But what happens if you don't know whose voice is God's and whose is a false prophet or who is passing along false information?

Here is where my collegiate experience comes into play...haha. Just kidding, well, kind of. In a couple of my sports teams through my college years we did many different team building exercises. Some of them were as silly as playing a rousing game of Cranium while others were learning experiences. One of these more important team bonding experiences involved an obstacle course set up in the gym and some blindfolds. Needless to say (if you hadn't guessed by now) the team was split up into pairs and one person from each pair was blindfolded and the seeing partner needed to safely guide the sightless one through the obstacle course. Due to the fact that our gym was not super large and that there were specific goals involved other than simply being directly successfully through the course there was a tad bit of congestion at some points. While being blindfolded if you followed the directions from one of the other pair leaders you would have gotten tangled up or even lost. (What I am glad our team did not do is try to trick partners and give faulty directions to try to trip up another team). It was important to know your partner's voice and to listen to what they were saying. Sometimes it was confusing or I did not understand what my partner was quite saying. You know what I did....I asked questions back. But it mostly involved listening.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jul/11/islandlife1blind_b.jpg

This talent of listening isn't just for sports teams. It is also a key component of your relationship with God. (well, any relationship that you care about for that matter). It is ESSENTIAL for you to listen to what God is saying. Not just what other people say about God but what He is saying to YOU. How do I know it is God talking to me and not someone else (like your own desires etc)??? Well, that is a great question....(I absolutely just felt like I was talking to myself). When you are at the point of recognizing someone's voice, how have you gotten to that place? Did you read letters that they gave you? Did you sing to them? Well, I didn't. I spent time with them, talked with them and listened to their voice over and over and over again. It took practice and repetition. I am not here to tell you that I have fine-tuned the ability to hear God's voice. I simply know that it takes practice to be able to figure out A) what God is saying to you and B) that it is in fact God doing the talking and not the burrito you ate at lunch. I do believe that people have and do hear an audible voice from God but until God speaks to me in that manner on a consistent basis I need to perfect the Art of Listening.