God listens when we speak. This is one of the most beautiful things about living in love with God. But the opposite is also true: we’re called to listen when God speaks. God is still in the connecting and communication business. And he has so much to share with us each day if we’ll adopt the posture of a listener. This is one of the ways we can experience life as “rooted and grounded” in love (Eph. 3:17).
We’ve explored in other posts four ways to listen to God. Here are two final ways:
1 – Community. God often speaks in the context of community. The church in Antioch was gathered together for worship when the Holy Spirit spoke: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” (Acts 13:3 ESV) God spoke in the context of community. In Esther 4, God uses Mordecai to speak to Esther to guide her to act against the injustice being committed against the Jewish people. God often speaks to us through other people. One helpful practice is to review each day’s conversations. Bring back to your mind the multiple conversations you were engaged in, and re-listen. What might God have been saying to you through that conversation? Is there a word or a phrase or an image that stays with you when you consider those conversations? God often uses the wisdom and perspective of others to further his purposes for us.
2 – Reason. Elizabeth Liebert, in The Way of Discernment writes that “For many people, making a decision means reasoning out the alternatives and picking the most logical one. Indeed, reasoning is an important entry point into discernment, but not the only privileged one…” For those of us in the Western world, reason is our default. We’d probably do well, therefore, to consider some of the additional ways God speaks. But, it’s also appropriate to trust that God can speak to us through reason and logic. Ignatius of Loyola, who prioritized listening to the internal movements of our soul as a way of hearing God, also noted that reason can be helpful. He urged Christians who are trying to discern to make lists of the options before them and consider the pros and cons of each option.
Take some time, ideally each day, to just listen. You’ll find yourself more rooted and grounded if you do.
