Why don’t we listen?
Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others. – Proverbs 12:15
Proverbs 3:1-7
1 Store my commands in your heart.
2 If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying.
3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.
4 Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
If God wants to speak to us, why do we not listen?
There are several reasons why we do not listen. Most of the time, we are inherently self-centered and selfish. We want what we want when we want it. We want it on our terms. If we heard the Father speak to us, we fear He might ask us to do something we do not want to do. Or perhaps, He will ask us to stop doing something we want to do. We want our own way.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
We may be angry with God and blame Him for something that has happened.
Hebrews 4:7 Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.
The Father desires to speak to us. The Lord will speak to us if we are willing to listen. When there is a lack of communication between the Father and us, the source is totally on our end. He is ready and willing. The question is, are we?
REFLECT & PRAY
Faith keeps us dedicated to God and His plan for our life (Stanley).
Deuteronomy 6:3 Listen closely . . . and be careful to obey.
Father, I desire to release my own selfish tendencies and trust you as much as possible. I visualize myself helpless and prostrate before you, waiting for your command. I seek that I yield and continue to yield.
INSIGHT
1 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart.
3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.
4 Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
The Father has provided a way to open communication channels and allow us to receive and enjoy all the generous gifts He has prepared to lavish upon us. The Father intends that every child of the King becomes a listener. Eventually, listening becomes as automatic and intuitive as breathing.
At the top of the Father’s list of “Things to Do” is knowing the Word of God and living it out in real life. “The will of God is revealed in the Word of God (Colossians 1:9-10)” (Wiersbe).
Godly character is a wonderful byproduct when we listen to and internalize the Word within our hearts. Loyalty and kindness (steadfast love and faithfulness, ESV) become the delightful adornment in our lives. The Bible is not intended to be merely held and studied with our eyes and hands. Instead, the Holy Spirit needs to write it on our hearts (Proverbs 3:3, Psalms 40:8). But there’s more. The Father takes great joy and pleasure in doing good for His children (Jeremiah 32:41). His joy generates joy and delight in us and stimulates worship from the hearts of His children.
Jeremiah 32:40 I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me.
As we love and submit to the Father, He works to actualize His dream for our lives. He promises to direct our paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
The Hebrew word translated as trust is batach. Batachconnotes relying on, depending on, or having confidence in. It means to “lie helpless, facedown. It pictures a servant waiting for the master’s command in readiness to obey, or a defeated soldier yielding himself to the conquering general” (Wiersbe).
Tragically, we often choose to depend upon our own comprehension and thoughts. As a result, we miss the Father’s dream for us. So He cautions us against relying on our own understanding. Children of the King are not to turn off our brains and ignore our common sense and intelligence. “ It simply cautions us not to depend on our own wisdom and experience or the wisdom and experience of others” (Wiersbe).
Abraham did this when he went to Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20), and so did Joshua when he attacked the little town of Ai (Joshua 7). When we become “wise in [our] own eyes” (Proverbs 3:7), then we’re heading for trouble. (Wiersbe)
Isaiah 53:6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
© Dr. H 2022
Dr H Reflections 