He was the principal's son, but I wasn't making much headway teaching him history.

I was in my fourth year of teaching at a local private school when the board of directors hired a new headmaster who had a son travelling through the teenage years — a son whose grades needed attention. After a battery of tests, it was determined that his son had Attention Deficit Disorder or ADD. His father decided that medicine was needed to correct his inability to listen. But whereas he didn't listen before because of his challenges, now he couldn't listen because the medicine put him to sleep. Either way, he was unable to listen.

With me … I have the ability to listen. But do I?

Ecclesiastes 5:7 – Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead. (NLT)

Only saying that I listen to God is cheap talk. But when I fear him, I'll pay attention with the intent of learning something. God doesn't want me to be afraid of Him — even though He does possess life-and-death power over me. Rather, He desires that I reverence and love Him to the degree that it motivates me to realize that He knows what's best.

If I'm to listen to God, I also need some downtime. Life is busy — for me and everyone else. If I'm not careful, God will get crowded out — pushed to the "when I have time" corner. I need silence and alone time to properly hear what His Spirit is revealing and rousing me to do.

Without an intimate connection, I can't hear God either. This is more than simply asking Jesus to be my Saviour. It's consistently spending time with Him and executing the things that enhance my spiritual growth — which, in turn, advances my ability to hear.

Are you listening when God speaks to you?

Prayer: Merciful Father, foster in us a desire to hear and then to do Your will. Amen.

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About the author:

Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA
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