“Mum, are you listening to me?”
“Well, I do know you were talking about ……, but I might have missed some of what you said.”
To be honest, I probably missed quite a bit of what my child said because when they came to speak to me I continued on with whatever I was doing and only half-listened to what they were saying to me! Too task focused.
I apologise for my inattentiveness, but our child still has that sense that Mum doesn’t always listen to me.
God is listening
Thankfully our Heavenly Father is not like that. He, in His majestically mysterious way, is available 24/7 for each one of us. In Jeremiah, the Lord says,
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12 NKJV
God listening to us does not necessarily translate into Him doing what we ask. Just like as a parent we listen to our children’s requests, but we don’t always fulfill them as we often have a bigger picture in mind. Our Heavenly Father is the same. Our job is to stick with Him, wait and trust.
But me, I’m not giving up.I’m sticking around to see what God will do.I’m waiting for God to make things right.I’m counting on God to listen to me.Micah 7:7 The Message
Stick with Him and trust
Trust. Trust that His promises are true, despite what we see. How difficult that can be sometimes. We need to remind ourselves of the good things our God has done – starting with our salvation.
This I recall to my mind,Therefore I have hope.Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,Because His compassions fail not.They are new every morning;Great is Your faithfulness,”The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,”Therefore I hope in Him!”The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,To the soul who seeks Him, It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:21-26 NKJV
Wait patiently
Wait patiently upon the LORD – Not always an easy thing to do. But as we go through trial after trial, hopefully we start to hone that skill of waiting patiently. As in each of those trials we see more and more of our God’s faithfulness so our trust levels increase. We come to a place of knowing without a doubt that He listens to us because He loves us, and He has a plan for us. So next time we are tempted to ask God, ‘Are you listening to me?’ remember He is at work in the unseen.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
For some more thoughts on God’s faithfulness please visit these posts:
God hears our heart’s cry
God’s timing and our patience
God is listening – Day 22 – Drawing Closer to God devotion
