Years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt suspected many of the people around him weren’t really listening. So, one evening he decided to find out. As each person came up to shake his hand, he flashed a grin and said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” People would automatically respond with comments like, “Keep up the good work!” Nobody seemed to be listening except one foreign diplomat. When the president said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning,” the diplomat said softly, “Well, I’m sure she had it coming.”
If human beings find it hard to listen to each other, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that we often have the same problem listening to God.
When it comes to listening for God’s voice, I’ve always liked the advice my wife, Tammy, sometimes gives her students. She can’t really talk about God at school, but she can say things like, “Listen for your happy voice – not the one that says you are stupid or unwanted – but the one that tells you that you are loved and capable.”
Of course, God’s words over us can also be challenging, as God asks to grow and change, but they are always words of love and encouragement. Are you listening?