God Speaking

“The Lord came and stood there, calling as at other times, “Samuel Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak for your servant is listening.”

(1 Samuel 3: 10)

I have a friend who loves to write poetry. She started writing fun things in conjunction with her sisters, sending each other sometimes funny topics, sometimes about family members, but just recently she allowed me to read her collection and one of them really resonated with me so I asked her permission to publish it in my blog as its message is one that often grips us in our walk with the Lord and perhaps many of us have asked the same question;

Are You Listening God?

Clouds

I walked the neighbourhood last night

To see the setting sun

It covered me with a large pink cloud

And lifted my heavy heart

Are you listening God? – we say out loud

As our negative doubts abound

“O you of little faith” rebounds

“I’ve been watching from the clouds”

The Psalmists knew the darkness of thinking that God was no longer listening to their cries

“Save me, O God for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail looking for my God.” (Psalm 69: 1 – 3)

The Psalmist certainly paints a dismal picture with these words and even goes so far as to ask God to answer him quickly;

“Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly; for I am in trouble.” (Psalm 69: 17)

The message we read over and over again in Scripture is that yes the Lord is certainly listening to our cries, but we have to be part of the dialogue. If we are doing all the crying out and not listening, we will not hear the comforting words our Saviour is saying to us. We have all come across those people who love to talk volumes, but rarely listen to what others are saying. We can fall into that trap with our relationship with the Lord.

As my friend discovered on her evening walk, we need to be the ones listening so we don’t miss out on the compassion the Lord is so willing to pour out on us. He urges us to set aside quite times to reflect on his greatness and be bathed in his grace and mercy, in whatever situation we find ourselves and one of the best ways is to remember who he is and stop our minds from racing with all those destructive thoughts;

“Be still and know that I am God….” (Psalm 46: 10)

Then remember who we are;

“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100: 3)