On Listening
We live in a fast-paced world. So many things demand our attention: our kids, the husband, the facebook notifications, the phone call from a friend, the messy house, the full calendar, the stack of books on the nightstand that you promised yourself you would read this year, the 124 pinned projects you want to do and the 301 pinned recipes you want to try… It’s so easy to never slow down, to never stop. Life is loud. Life can easily be lived in a hurry.
And hurry will thwart your ability to listen.
Hurry shouts over God’s still quiet voice.
Hurry actually believes that everything on the list of things to do is more important than stopping to listen. If God really wanted my attention, He wouldn’t give me so much to do.
Hurry is self-centered. Hurry worries about appearances.
Hurry shines the vase, but leaves the inside dusty.
I love the story of Mary and Martha. Martha toils and she does and she hurries and she thinks she’s doing something important. And yet, there is Mary… sitting, fellowshipping, knowing and being known by Jesus. And Mary chooses the better thing. Lunch wouldn’t have been prepared, the table wouldn’t be set, the house would be a mess, and Mary chose the better thing.
Martha treated Jesus like an honored guest in her home. Mary treated Jesus like a long lost friend, someone she just wanted spend time with before she did a single other preparation. And Jesus so clearly tells Martha how He wants to be treated: not as guest, but as friend.
Jesus wants to be known.
I am such a doer. I am task-oriented and a little type-a. I try to earn my Grace that was freely given to me. I tire myself out. But God beckons me, “Come and sit at my feet. Be refreshed. Know me. Let me be apart. Would you stop doing for me and start doing with me?”
This morning, I spent my time reading my Bible and praying. I sat down at the computer to begin writing, and I heard that still small voice, "Will you spend more time with me?" For a second, I wanted to protest: what if I don't get anything written? I have things to do. And God's gentle reminder, "Is it more important than me?" That extra time with God allowed me to see the glowing red orb of the the rising sun piercing through barren winter trees. I sensed His presense. I heard Him speak. I have learned I can do so much more with so much less, when I set aside for the Lord.
Listening is a waiting. Listening is tuning-in, it may even require that you change your location. Listening is a setting aside.
Listening is stepping away from the hurry, from the noise of life. Listening is choosing the better thing.
A woman who listens is a woman who truly loves and desires God above all else.
Maybe today is the day to start choosing the longest line at the grocery store, to take that walk just because you long to hear God, to close the door to your bedroom and then the closet door and sit in the quiet and cry out for God to meet you where you are even if for but a few minutes. Maybe today is the day to pull over on the side of the road when you are already running late because you hear God beckoning to you thru the wild beauty of His creation.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew 13:44
Would you chime in? Are you more of a Mary or a Martha?
By Grace,
Amanda
