I
don’t know about you, but sometimes I can tend to love the sound of my own voice and talk too much instead of
listening. Then there are times when I simply get lost in the noise of the
world around me. There are times when I cannot hear God’s voice or the voice of
the one that is speaking to me because either
the world or I am just too noisy.
Being quiet and just listening seems
to be a lost art these days. That is, just zipping our mouth and letting our
ears do all of the work. I recently
read about a man who did not speak for 17 years, wow that is a long time.
John Francis though that the problem was with his voice, not his soul. He said,
“I
used words to hide from people and from
myself… I decided not to speak for one day, as a kind of gift to my community.
My girlfriend thought I was doing a nice thing. When I woke the next day, I
didn’t see any reason to speak, so I didn’t… I liked not speaking. It gave me peace… After 17 years of not speaking, I felt I had
something to say.”
Now I am not saying that we need to go
to this extreme, but sometimes we need just to
stop talking and listen. It is also essential to healthy relationships
with God and each other. I like what James had to say on this matter,
“Post this at all the intersections,
dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue” (Jas 1:19 The
Message).
Pause in His
presence for a moment and think this over…
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