Listen Well
Scripture Reading - Revelation 13:9 The Amplified Bible
If anyone is able to hear, let him listen:
It seems like all of us where taught to “listen” from early childhood. Typically your parents, other family members and teachers all echoed that you must “listen” to understand questions so you know how to answer. Parents wanted you to “listen” to them so that you could follow their instructions. Family members wanted you to “listen” to them so that they could give you counsel and generally speaking teachers wanted you to “listen” to them so that they could prepare you for the subject they were teaching. In all three of these cases “listening well” equated to a better understanding of the one speaking to you and it also gained their respect when you did what was expected. One problem we (ihlcc) now see is that many adults and those who think they are grown don’t usually get reminded to “listen”. Thus, many adults don’t really “listen closely” to what someone is saying they rather “listen” closedly. “Listening closedly” just means you only hear yourself through you own thinking not paying close attention to what the other person is really saying. Yes, we could further say many people don’t like “listening” to others and especially if there is some mention of correction in the conversation. Yes, it seems that when children are little they are more open to “listen” to the wisdom (counsel, instructions and stories) of their parents. However as they grow older in age, say teenager, they are learning more from “listening” to others (multiple sources) who don’t share the parents same thoughts and views. Those individuals (teenage children) might “listen” to their parent or they might not. The same is very true for young adults “listening” to their parent(s) because many young adults believe, “I heard from my parents all my life I already know what they have to say”, not realizing parents speak differently according to your age and maturity, at least “listening” parents will do that. Yes, we all are familiar with people who “listen” when they want to and choose not to “listen” when they don’t want to, we call that selective hearing (selective “listening”). We (ihlcc) don’t think it is good idea to “not listen” to someone you are talking with either friend or foe. Of course many people will not openly admit they are “not listening” to someone else but if you hear them speak afterwards one can easily see they didn’t “listen”. Two quick examples to illustrate our point: Children who think that they know better than their parents will probably “not listen well” to their parents in everyday decisions. Vice-versa many parents who think that they know better than their children will “not listen” to their child when they really should. On one occasion two Christian parents had planned to leave their child with a grandparent overnight which is a very common practice that would seem to have no harm. However, their own child came up to them a day or two before the schedule event and clearly told their parent they did not want to go. Generally this child doesn’t mind going over grandma’s house but on this occasion they did not want to go. Now both parents of the child pondered what to do next. However, one parent (the father) said lets go ahead and take the child over there anyway because we already promised grandma that the child is coming and she (grandma) would be really disappointed if we change plans now. This sounds reasonable but that same parent (the father) heard in their heart several hours later before the drop-off time these words, “You need to listen to her!” A short word of clarity or understanding that you know is talking about a specific situation is typical from God because the Lord knows your heart and He knows exactly how to remove doubts and answer all questions. Once the word came to the father he immediately called his wife for a re-evaluation of the next step. In this incident the father told the mother what he perceived to be the voice of the Lord and the mother confirmed the witness and both agreed to keep the child home (with them). Much, much later the couple found out that grandma believed and taught some things that were slightly different from the Word of God as understood by the parents. Yes, we know many who would say, “Oh that is OK its just one night over grandmas, what could that hurt?” However, we would say (or ask), “Why didn’t God agree with you?” The Lord could have very easily said, “Don’t worry I will keep the child no matter what” but He (The Lord) didn’t say that. Secondarily, if the child didn’t really want to go shouldn’t they have some say in the matter, even though they are a child (around 5ish)? Is this all about the parents and grandma or should this be all about doing God’s Will from the heart, not necessarily man’s will from the head (human reasoning)? If it is all about God then the Good and Gracious Lord will not force His Will upon anyone, nor will He force someone to do something against their own will. Therefore, as parents we should not make a practice of forcing our children to do something against their own will, lest we teach our own beloved children to fight against God’s Word and go contrary to God’s Ways. Your conscience is often how you interrupt the voice of the Lord speaking to your heart, so when you are troubled about making a certain decision we always preach follow your heart unto God’s grace and glory. We are saying all this to remind every parent that each child should be granted (given) the same opportunity to follow their heart as long as they are not sinning against God. We know there are many parents who do not “listen well” to their children when the parent keeps forcing their own will down the child’s throat without realizing they (the parent) are choking the child to death by not realizing you can’t force someone to eat what they don’t want. Likewise, children should “listen well” to their parents to better understand why they are speaking what they are speaking not just thinking that the parent is always off base. Similarly employees should “listen well” to their respective bosses to better represent the company in a broader light and bosses should practice “listening well” to their worker’s because they represent leadership for the company. So remember it is not just about what people are saying but also why are they saying it and this difference can only be understood if the person hearing the information is trained to “Listen Well”. As the reference scripture states: “If anyone is able to hear, let him listen:” and we (ihlcc) will add, “Let them “Listen Well” to better understand the heart of the speaker and to follow God’s Will unto all righteousness, truth, obedience and peace in Jesus Name. “Listen” to understand and “Listen Well” to perceive not just what they are saying but even better learning just who they are because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.-Luke 6:45b Amen!