How Falling in Love Improves Your Hearing
Blog | Growing Pains | Prayer
When Luke was little, he padded down the hall early one morning and found me curled up on the corner of our outdated plaid couch where I often began my day. Wrapped in six A.M. stillness, I had seized the fleeting silence and was talking with the Lord. I hadn’t heard his little feet padding down the hall. The feel of my son’s warm body cuddling next to mine interrupted our conversation, and I opened my eyes to greet him with a hug.
“Mommy?” he whispered. “Are you talking to God?”
“Yes, honey,” I replied as I kissed his tousled hair, “I am.” With a sleepy grin he snuggled closer, content to ease into the day on the edge of the couch with me. With one arm enveloping his skinny frame and another resting on my open Bible, I closed my eyes once more and continued my prayers.
Soon, a curious voice interrupted, “Mom?”
“Yes, Lukas?”
“Does God talk back?”
My heart responded affirmatively long before my mouth formed the words. After a short pause, I steadily responded. “Yes, buddy, God talks back.”
Lukas’s bright blue eyes grew wide with awe and reverently he stammered, “But how do you KNOW it’s him?”
“Remember when we were at that playground filled with lots of people and Daddy went to the parking lot to get the car?”
“Uh huh?”
“Could you see Daddy from where you sat on the swings?”
“No.”
“Well, how did you know it was Dad when he called your name and said it was
time to go?” My son’s big blue eyes looked at me for a moment, and then he giggled.
“Mo-om” he said with more than a touch of exasperation, “He’s my daddy. I just KNOW him!”
I returned his giggle with a smile of my own and quietly replied, “You know
what, buddy? That’s how it is with God too!”
I used to feel that hearing from God was an elusive endeavor accomplished only by giants of faith and people who spent entire days in solitude and prayer. But I’m learning that my ability to listen isn’t dependent on time spent in silence but on time spent with my Savior. I don’t need to pull out of life to listen, I simply need to spend my life falling in love with the One who loves me most. Then, naturally, as I fall deeper and deeper in love with Jesus, my ears will grow more and more in tune to His voice.
Not long ago I browsed a journal filled with letters I had written to my husband during our engagement. I smiled as I revisited the expectations I had held for our life together, and I chuckled at my attempts to put into words what Rob had meant to me after three years of courtship.
My definition of who Rob was then seems rather shallow in contrast to who I know him to be now. Having been high school sweethearts, our relationship was grounded in common activities: cheering one another on at sporting events, hanging out on weekends, and studying side by side. As a twenty-year-old bride, I had defined my groom primarily as my “best friend.”
While my husband still holds that title, my definition of who Rob is has certainly expanded. Eighteen years of marriage, ten relocations, and five children later, Rob has proven himself to be far more than my best friend. He has become my lover, my encourager, my prayer partner, my stability and my delight. Today, one small journal would never hold the pages of words I have gained to describe my husband. Nor would it be adequate space in which to describe my Lord.
Through years of sharing my life with him, I have gotten to know greater depths of God’s character. While the Bible reminds me that I may not always understand the thoughts of a sovereign God (Isaiah 55:8), Jesus promises to be the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:5). According to Bible teacher Beth Moore, “We can’t always know the mind of God, but we can always know the heart of God” (Breaking Free). Just as I continue to learn more and more about the man I married as we share years together, I continue to learn more and more about my Savior as I spend my life with Him. And as I discover His heart on the pages of His Word, I am more apt to recognize His voice on the pages of my life.
The Overflow: “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given–and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given.” Mark 4:24
This made me all teary!
I love your love for the Lord, your hubby, and your kids…your perfect!