Wednesday, June 22, 2011

THANKFUL THURSDAY...shhh - can you hear it?

Sometimes I am not a very good listener. I blame it on my age and I say I didn't hear it, but I often wonder if that is true or if I just have a short attention span. Often times, my family has to repeat things more than once to me. I am just not a good listener at times.

At times, we don't hear, because we don't listen. I read a story recently that illustrates this thought perfectly:

A man lost his watch while working in a ice house. He searched diligently for his watch, carefully shifting through the sawdust, but to no prevail did he find his watch. His co-workers also searched for his watch, but they came up with nothing.

While the men took a lunch break, a young boy who had heard about the lost watch slipped into the ice house to search for the lost watch. After just a short time, the boy came out of the ice-house with the watch in his hand.

The men were all astonished that the young boy found what they could not. They asked him, "How did you find it?" The boy replied, " I laid down in the sawdust and kept very still. In the quietness, I heard the watch ticking."

I have found that life can be so hectic and we can become so consumed with things that distract us that it is difficult to find time to slow down and just be still. Have you ever wondered why Jesus went to be alone with His Father? He secluded Himself so He could focus completely on what His Father had to say to Him.

It was never a question of whether or not God was speaking, because He was. Jesus just made a point of listening. The question for us is not whether or not God is speaking but are we willing to listen? We might need to remove some distractions and get quiet before God so we can hear Him.

Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

When is the last time you laid down in the sawdust prayer closet and just listened? If you get still before Him, you might be able to hear something of importance.

Today, on THANKFUL THURSDAY, I am so grateful for the voice of God. May we quiet down so we can hear His voice among all of the other voices calling out to us. Shh! Can you hear it?

IRIS is our TT host this month. Please join your grateful heart with ours by linking up over there.

4 comments:

bp said...

Great story and great point on listening. Thanks for posting.

bethany

sharon said...

My mum used to tell me that God was ALWAYS speaking, we just weren't listening hard enough. Thanks for reminding me of that cos I've really needed to hear him speak about some stuff. I love the story too.

Hugs,
sharon

Patti Hanan said...

Life can be so busy. Having quiet times with God are so important. Thank you for an encouraging post.

Cup of Goodness said...

Thank you! Last night in my prayer closet (the kitchen) I was speaking the same—how blessed to be able to listen and hear from Him.