This is the third in a series of blogs on The Word of God as a part of the Armor of God.
Now that we understand the importance of reading and experiencing the word of God, there is one other area to consider in our journey as Christians. That’s listening for what God is trying to say to us through His word.
I previously referenced a story from Numbers 12 concerning Miriam and Aaron. In that story I was impressed by the fact that the Lord spoke directly to Moses. What a special relationship that must have been. I wondered, is there something I could do that would lead to that kind of relationship with the Lord. But I quickly realized how hard this would be when I read verse 3, “Now Moses was very humble – more humble than any other person on earth.”
Nevertheless, I looked for other passages in the Bible where the Lord spoke to someone to see if I could find other characteristics that would enable a closer relationship with the Lord. During this search, I came across the story of Paul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9. In Paul’s story he was confronted by the Lord who directly spoke to him in verses 4 through 6. “He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, lord?’ Saul asked. And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’”
Paul received a direct communication from the Lord. It was loud and clear without any ambiguity. The fact that Paul was also blinded by a bright light added emphasis to the Lord’s message. Paul could have ignored this message, but he may have thought to himself, If I ignore this what else will happen to me? Because he was blinded his options were limited and he had no choice but to obey. If the Lord chooses to speak directly with me, I have a strong preference that He would not do it the same way He spoke to Paul in this passage.
Fortunately, another example is provided just a few verses later when the Lord spoke to Ananias in a vision. It’s interesting that even though it was a vision, Ananias interacted with the Lord through the vision. Verses 10 through 16 share this vision experience, “The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, ‘Ananias!’ ‘Yes, Lord!’ he replied. The Lord said, ‘Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.’ ‘But Lord,’ exclaimed Ananias, ‘I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.’ But the Lord said, ‘Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.’’’
Since the Lord spoke to Ananias through a vision, it was possible to deny that this message was from the Lord. After all, Paul persecuted Christians so why would the Lord send Ananias to see him? Ananias even questioned the Lord about this. So, Ananias could have convinced himself that it was just a bad dream. Maybe the olive oil he dipped his bread in was bad. Instead, Ananias was listening, and he heard the Lord. He knew he must obey. And he did.
We have two specific examples. God spoke directly to Paul, but in a vision with Ananias. Paul needed to listen and change his behavior. Ananias needed to listen and obey the Lord. The Lord is creative and could choose to communicate with us in any number of ways. The question is will we be listening when He does communicate? Will we be ready to obey?
Many years ago, the company where I worked came out with a new marketing slogan. In part it was, “We know how important it is to listen!” It sounded good, and it was even based on a good principle. But as I interacted with many fellow employees, I found many who did not listen. They already knew what our customers wanted, what their fellow employees wanted, and what our leadership wanted. Or at least they thought they knew. As a result, a lot of energy and cost was spent on doing things that others didn’t want in the first place. To a large degree, human nature interferes with our willingness to listen to what others say.
The Bible passage in Acts caused me to think about my own listening skills. I looked around at my family, the people I work with, and my neighbors. Was I listening to the people around me? The people the Lord had entrusted to me. If I didn’t listen to them, what made me think that I would hear the Lord when He spoke to me? As I thought about this, I realized that I had some subtle attitudes that, in part, prevented me from listening to others. To illustrate this discovery, I will share one example with my family that exposed me to the inadequacy of my listening skills. This example, just as it is for so many others, amazed me when I realized how long it took me to learn what seemed so obvious after I had learned it.
I like action movies. James Bond, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and the like. When I have an evening to myself (honest, this doesn’t happen very often) I will sometimes sit down and watch an action movie. Sometimes my family will watch it with me, but often others in our family are busy and off doing something else, and I get to watch the movie by myself. Once the movie has started, I become very focused on it and I don’t like to be disturbed. But invariably, at the moment James Bond is caught in a trap and he has just two minutes to escape or die, my wife or one of my children would come in and interrupt me with, “Hey, I need to talk to you about something.”
Since I am a loving husband and father, you can probably guess what my response should have been. But even so, my response was not always a loving one. “Can you wait until the commercial?” I would say. Or “Please, wait until this movie is over!” And while I am speaking to them, I am not looking at them. Rather I am looking at the television to see if James Bond is getting out of his trap alive. You can imagine what happened next.
Usually my wife or child would stomp off in anger yelling something like, “I knew you didn’t love me!” or “So, James Bond is more important to you than me!” or some other angry statement. And for a long time my response would be to sit in my chair and think to myself, “Can’t they see I’m watching a movie?” or “Why can’t they learn to wait until after the movie?” or “When they are watching a movie they don’t like to be disturbed!” or “This is the most important part of the movie and can’t they understand how important it is for me to see how James Bond escapes?” For a long time, I convinced myself that the real problem wasn’t me. Instead, I thought they were inconsiderate people who needed to learn how to respect me and my time.
But in Hebrews 4:12 we are told, “the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” And in Hebrews 12:25 we are told, “Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking.” So, when I read about Paul and Ananias and considered how they listened to God, my mind was ready for the Holy Spirit to take those thoughts to my own family.
Then it hit me! If God came to me right when I was watching James Bond and he was caught in a trap and he had just two minutes to escape or die, and God tried to interrupt me by saying, “Hey, I need to talk to you about something.” How would I respond?
Up to that point I didn’t have a very good track record with listening. I had to admit that my listening skills were in need of improvement. This became one more area for me to work on. And with help from the word of God I have been slowly improving my listening technique; shaken not stirred.
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All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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