He Hears

I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

In my imagination I sometimes wonder just how soundly asleep Jesus really was during the storm at sea. I have thought that perhaps he was more aware of the circumstances than the disciples knew. Perhaps as He climbed into the boat that day He said something along the lines of: “Okay while you guys start rowing us across Galilee, I am going to take a nap. Then as He borrowed a pillow and went to sleep He was saying to himself, “I know what is coming next, I wonder how long it will be before they wake me up?”

photo of people on rowboat during sunset

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com

Then as the wind picked up and the sky darkened with storm clouds the disciples kept rowing as hard as they could. They didn’t want Jesus to have to worry about anything; after all they were all experienced fishermen. Then as the first wave or two sloshed over the side of the boat some may have begun to worry. Finally as wave after giant wave tossed the little boat up and down and it began to take on water panic took hold of their hearts.

 

“Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Mark 4:38b

 

Just like us, they had come to the place where they wondered if God even cared about their fears. But Jesus is in our boat, to be our Immanuel through any storm. He listened to the disciples. He listened to King David. He is listening to you.

If today you are facing your biggest fear God is with you in your boat. He is waiting for us to cry out like David, like the disciples and like countless generations of believers. He is with us and He hears!

Listening Ears

O you who dwell in the gardens, with companions listening for your voice; let me            hear it.  Song of Solomon 8:13

Ears

Only ears can hear

That’s just the way God made us

If ears could see or hear

They’d certainly betray us

But when God fashioned ears

Those humble awkward things

That flop about and wiggle

On little inner springs

He made a way to tell us

How much we’d been forgiven

And then He set and tuned them

To hear His words from heaven

Oh – only ears can hear

That’s just the way God made them

Humble listening gifts

That lead us to obey Him

 

P1010570

I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the friend of silence-we need to listen to God because it’s not what we say but what He says to us and through us that matters. God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.  Mother Teresa

“Hearing is an ability but listening is a choice!”  P C Caligiuri

A Quiet Listening Heart

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful Colossians 3:15

Even with cell phones, computers and dozens of social agencies one of the greatest problems we face today is loneliness. It still feels as if no one is listening. God’s word points us to His solution: the peace of Jesus Christ. The first peace we need is peace with God. When we come to Jesus Christ He releases us from trying to be good enough because in Him we discover that no matter what; He loves us. He came into the world to sit with sinners and His cry of forgiveness from the cross quiets our hearts. Secondly the Bible points out that we are called into one body with everyone else who belongs to Him. God designed us with a longing to belong; and that longing is met in connection with His people. He shows us that our own loneliness does not give us an excuse to isolate ourselves but instead we should take the initiative to listen to someone else’s hurts.  Listening brings us all together. Along our journey towards peace we finally also discover peace with ourselves. After spending our lives struggling trying to be special we find peace only when we discover that everyone (including us) is special to God. In the moment that we find out that God has been listening to us all along His peace begins to perfectly reign. Once His wonderful peace  in we will begin to hear. There in a quiet heart we will be able to truly listen and to hear the hearts of others and of God.

wp-1582743872820.jpg