LET US LEARN TO LISTEN TO THE LORD AND TO EACH OTHER

The apostle James wrote, “everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.”   Misunderstandings, confusion, poor decision making, frustrations, embarrassment, lost of initiative, ineffectiveness, hurt feelings and serious quarrels result when we fail to truly listen to God and to each other. Even in secular organizations, unending parade of relational conflicts, unnecessary and costly errors follow when leaders are not good listeners.”   John Smythe describes this tragedy when he said, “as we get more powerful our mouths get bigger and our ears smaller.” Prov 18:13 tells us that he who answers before listening, that is his folly and shame.  When we don’t listen to God and His counsel, we are left to our own and soon discover their painful consequences (See Lev 26:14-33; 2Ki 17:13-23;  Psalm 81:11-12; Prov 1:20-33; Mat 13:13-15).  We can lose support from others just like King Rehoboam in 1Ki 12:1-20, or even our own lives just like King Josiah in 2Chron 35:20-24).

The problem is many times we physically hear but we do not understand. The person talking to us senses we are restless, distracted and not interested.  Sometimes, we cut short what people are saying, and  make them feel they are not worth our time and attention. The Bible tells us to listen carefully or attentively  (Ex 15:26; 23:22). Our modern term for this is emphatic listening, this is when we can actually feel what the other person is feeling, we can see through his eyes or stand for a moment in his shoes.  In the language of Stephen Covey, listening is “seeking first to understand than to be understood.” When King Jehoshapat was attacked by a vast army and afraid, he listened intently to the Word given by the Spirit of God not to be discouraged. He was told to face the army the next day but instructed that the battle was not his but God’s.  That was tough, but he listened carefully, made the people listen well and together they trusted the Lord and His messenger, and the result was a successful victory, see 2Chronicles 20. Contrary to the old tradition that we only listen to people who makes decision for us, we need to listen 360 degree, from the Lord, our parents, supervisors, peers, friends, subordinates, associates and not forgetting our own selves or intuition.
When people sense we are truly listening, there will be growing bond of respect, more cooperation and productivity, cooler heads,  accuracy in information, creativity is induced,  innovative solutions to problems are discovered, people feel better about themselves, they get more engaged,  confident and inspired to contribute. Conflicts will be avoided, stress wil be reduced and costly errors are prevented  (M. Burley-allen, Peter Drucker, Kent Blumberg, etc). More importantly, the Lord will make the listeners wiser (Prov 1:5; 22:17-21), people will commitedly follow them (Josh 1:16; 24:31) and God will bless them (Prov 8:32-35).

Let us remember that as the Lord’s flock, we should listen and follow the voice of our Shepherd (John 10:27).  He will make us lie down the green pastures, find quiet waters, restoration of our souls, paths of righteousness  . . . Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives . . . ” (Psalm 23). As we follow our  Lord,  He Himself will awaken us morning by morning, open our ears and give us the word not only for ourselves but also to serve others. (Isaiah 50:4-5). Let us take time to pause and excitingly learn to listen to His Spirit daily.  Shalom!

by Dr. Nomer Bernardino
BreadCom Senior Pastor

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