Does God Listen?
My teenage years consisted of youth camp summers and church rallies. Every week it seemed like I signed up for another activity with hotdog buffets and chants while really tall people waved flags.
Collective worship led to tears shed onto our new and overpriced T-shirts while our voices became lost from chanting of earlier, cracking while we screamed other praise songs. Somewhere between high school and entering my twenties, the collectiveness became distant, and singing praises to God looks a little lonelier. I recall specific seasons where my voice was no longer hoarse from praising but from petitioning – crying out to God and feeling like I was not receiving an answer.
I know what it feels like to live in silence with God and feel like He does not hear. I know what it feels like to wonder why He has left me in a difficult spot – the relationship that ended badly, the friend who disappointed, the grieving of a relative who passed, and the list goes on. I do know what it feels like to question if He cares about our fragile hearts.
If God really cares, why do I find myself in the position to question: Is God still listening?
As I give God my questions, my carefully thought-out opinions, and my well-reasoned arguments, I know there is hope. I see it in the answer to my prayers that I thought were forgotten but finally answered.
In the emptiness of loud silence, I hear the shattering recognition that I haven’t stopped long enough to listen. What I perceive as silence is God’s plea for me to pause my plans, pause the MESS in my life, and center my eyes on HIM.
How Do We Listen for God?
Joshua is a hero in the Old Testament for many reasons, primarily because his story proclaims the victories of the Lord. Out of all his accomplishments, his devotion to listen to the Lord’s voice in every battle models the way we should respond in our conversations with God.
Daily conversing with the Lord must take place where we are – not when we finally get to where we want to be.
1. Listening means pausing.
Following the death of Moses, Joshua became leader over the Israelites traveling through the wilderness after escaping slavery in Egypt. They were closer to reaching the thing God promised He would give them: a home. Forty years of wandering and their long journey to freedom would finally come true, but there was one more thing to do – conquer the city of Jericho.
As Joshua drew closer to the promise, he heard instruction from the Lord:
“’Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.’ So, Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel.” Joshua 5:2-3.
Without ignoring the command, Joshua stopped to listen and set out to do what he was asked to. Listening is not just simple obedience; it is active trust in God. Circumcision wasn’t a process to rush through nor was it considered a smart military decision. The knives had to be shaped, the surgery had to be conducted, and the men had to heal, which also made them vulnerable to attack.
Our fast-paced world makes it seem like there is always something more to do. Do I stop to listen where God is leading me, or do I sit in complacency to do what is comfortable? We squeeze in just enough time to make it to the next thing, and our days are packed with stacked events, keeping busy to ignore silence. Sometimes when we think God is not paying attention to our pleas, WE are not hearing because we have not paused long enough to listen.
It appears there is enough time in the schedule to ask God my questions and tell Him my worries, but there doesn’t seem to be enough time to listen to Him in the unexpected parts of my day.
The real question is not if God is listening because if we’re being honest with our church-pew-amening selves, we know He is. Sometimes we aren’t listening to Him. Have I paused long enough to hear God at this moment? Pausing makes us present as we trust God with the time He entrusts to us.
2. Listening means praising.
After the men stopped to be circumcised, the Passover was celebrated. The Passover is a ceremonial seven-day feast (commanded by Moses in Exodus 12) to remember the escape from Egypt. This meant more time passing before they could grasp their promise. Unleavened cakes, fresh produce, and grain were laid out for the people to celebrate. The people remembered their escape in a place far from their home and still away from the promise to come, but did not neglect to remember the Lord’s blessings.
“And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ Then the people bowed down and worshiped.” Exodus 12:26-27.
Like the Israelites celebrating before battle, we can prepare for our everyday battles by celebrating the work of the Lord – even when we feel far from where we want to be and far from where it is comfortable to be. When I praise God, I acknowledge my faith in the One I am praying to. I am taking my eyes off my sinking circumstances and onto the One in control of them.
How to Follow God When We Finally Hear Him
We all have our own wilderness to walk. It’s not how carefully crafted our prayers are that makes us close to the Lord, it is how we spend the time wandering in our wilderness. Are we obedient in the small things so God can entrust to us handle the big things? Are we trustworthy with the promises He has entrusted to us?
We can trade control for freedom when we pause to listen to what the Lord is speaking and how He is teaching.
I know your heart may be broken in many ways from many different things. Friend, let our wildernesses lead us to the feet of Jesus, pausing long enough to listen to His direction and obedient enough to follow His voice.
God is always listening to our pleas. We must only listen for His whispers as He guides us through and to His promises.
