“Listening in two directions”
I was watching a deer in my upper field one day. He was eating grass. All of a sudden, he looked up towards the woods. He was perfectly still looking in that direction, eyes glued on the woods. Then I noticed, one ear was turned toward where he was looking and the other was turned backward in the opposite direction. He was listening in two directions at the same time. The forward facing ear was listening for what he had heard and the backward facing ear was listening for what he might hear. He couldn’t see what was before him and what was behind him at the same time, but he could hear what was before him and what was behind him at the same time.
Listening when in a conversation with another person is important. Hearing correctly is also. As I get older, my ears don’t hear certain frequencies and I can miss important words. At times I will ask my wife to repeat something or ask what someone said. Unless I am careful to listen closely, I can hear a conversation or a word phrase wrong and hear something that was not said, or not hear something important. To the deer, not hearing correctly could be a life or death situation.
The hearing is one part of a conversation and talking is the other part. One without the other is not a conversation. It is important to get them both, right. Two people talking at the same time is not a conversation and two listening at the same time is certainly not. As the deer, we look intently and listen for a sound to come. If I hear one voice talking I can hear and comprehend. If another joins in, I can hear most of the words. If a third joins in, I can’t comprehend any of the conversation. When the wind is blowing hard the dear can’t distinguish which way the sound is coming from and which way she should run for safety. That’s the way I feel something while watching the news on T.V.
I was visiting someone in the hospital once. As we were chatting, I was listening to what she was saying and it was like someone behind me spoke. I was being told two different stories, her story as opposed to God’s story. Then I was able to help, for then I had the complete story. The important thing is to listen, to His, while listening to hers.
So, we are led by God’s spirit to move, to speak and do things and we are spoken to from behind. We must learn to hear what is before us and what is spoken from behind. When we go, what’s behind gives instructions and corrections. He tells us when to speak and when not to speak. He tells us when the door is open to go through and when it is not. Who is open to hearing and who is not. Who is ready and who is not. Even more impotent is, what to say.
Most of us love and know God’s great provisions and want everyone to know this. We want them to know it so much that we look for any opportunity or opening to speak, ready or not. The scripture says “If you receive a prophet as a Prophet you will receive the Prophet’s reward. Well, say you are the prophet bringing good news, are you being received? Are you being welcomed with open arms? The condition for getting His reward is, are you being received as a prophet. We all should know when we are getting a genuine hug from somebody and we also know how it feels to be pushed away. As in the former, we are free to speak and in the latter, shut up and go back to work, as my brother Charlie would say. Don’t waste your time on something that its time has not come yet. It will come later, at the right time. Listen to what the person before you is saying and listen to the one behind. Yes or no. Others lives are so important. We can go through life bringing life to others or cutting them up and leave them bleeding spiritually. If the voice behind says to wait, wait, His voice can check us or give freedom to proceed. It’s extremely important to get this right.
In my experience through life I have found that if a person likes you, they will listen. Just be a genuine good friend to others first. Don’t worry about the spiritual. It will come in due time, the right time. The one behind says, be careful and walk gently with my people. They have been beaten up for too long. Be their friend, for many have never had even one. Will you be that friend?
PS: My mother had a small golden book on her nightstand for as long as I can remember. On the front was printed these words. “Words fitly spoken are like apples of gold on trays of silver” Fitly spoken and at the right time is the key. From Proverbs 25:11
David McClary
Avoicefromthemountain.com
