Listen Up         

Listening baffles...not hearing aids.

When the Bible states we should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry it’s referring to how we relate to each other.  Did you know that our horizontal relationships (how we relate to each other) has a direct influence on our vertical relationship (our relationship with God)?

           Therefore consider carefully how you listen.  Luke 8:18

 This admonition is another way of saying attitude check...

There are a number of attitudes we can have that tend to act like ear plugs and muffle our auditory faculty.  Presumption is one of those auditory baffles that dampen communication between people.  My thesaurus lists the following words as synonyms for presumption: cheek, impertinence, insolence, nerve, effrontery, audacity, rudeness, disrespect impoliteness, sassiness.  It kind of shocked me to read these synonyms!  The antonym my thesaurus lists for presumption is respect.  No wonder presumption will kill a relationship faster than you can say…and isn’t that the point.  Communication requires openness to and an engagement with the other involved.  And when we presume we never really engage the other person and never really open ourselves up to them in the moment.   Proverbs 18:13 reminds us that "He who answers before listening - that is his folly and shame." Maybe that’s how you’ve approached your relationship with God.  Maybe you think you’ve got Him figured out, or know what He thinks of you and your situation…you presume to know and have inadvertently tuned Him out.  Be reminded of Hebrews 3:7, As the Holy Spirit says:  TODAY if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Hebrews 3:7 Another attitudinal baffle like presumption we can have is impatience.  Have you ever noticed you can never rush listening?  It’s impossible.  When you try to rush listening you end up interrupting.  Impatient people always interrupt…and there’s nothing more frustrating than being interrupted.  I think listening is as deliberate and methodical as it is by divine design.  Have you ever noticed good listeners are often the wisest people you know?  Shouldn’t surprise us…the bible says that "a man's wisdom gives him patience" (Proverbs 19:11).  The opposite is also true.  Chronic interrupters generally are the most foolish people. 

"Do you see a man who speaks in haste?  There is more hope for a fool than for him."  Proverbs 29:20