Stop and Listen

During the last couple of weeks, God has placed multiple reminders in my path, reminding me to stop and listen. Our family devotional time, conversations with others, short messages from friends; all aligned with the direction for me to stop and listen.  I am not referring to simply listening to a person who is speaking to me, but I am referring to stopping and listening to the sounds around me. As these months have flown by and we have arrived at Christmas time, I am reminded that the sounds around me will be changing soon. In our house, there is always music being playing and most days voices of children. Since my daughter, Dakota teaches piano at our house and she is always playing an instrument, these sounds constantly fill the spaces in our home. This often requires me to be quiet when I have tasks to get done in my home throughout an evening of lessons. This is where I begin to reflect on the moment where I need to stop and listen. It can be frustrating at times that I have to be quiet in my own home when there are children making noise, but I know that wonderful learning is going on as part of that noise.

This brings me to moments like that in all of our lives. Where is God calling you to stop and listen instead of reacting? I think of Mary, a young mom with this tiny baby who certainly had no clue what all the different sounds Jesus was making meant.  Does he want to eat? Does he need to be changed? Is he tired?  Then when he was 12 years old he goes to the temple and hangs out with the priest and talks with them, which I am sure he was not very quiet in the process, as many 12-year-olds are not.  This was a reminder to me that the sounds in my home will soon be something I won’t be able to stop and listen to.  Dakota will be going off to college and my house won’t be as busy. Those sounds and children’s voices will not be in the house all the time. For now, I need to stop and listen, soak in the miracles and wonders of those sounds. I think at times Mary had to do that too. Just stop, listen, and look at the face of God. Jesus was a child, he wasn’t quiet, he was rambunctious and had lots to say.

God calls us all to stop and listen, not just react. Stop and listen to the wonders around us. Children are one of those wonders that God has created for us to stop and listen to. In Job, He calls us to stop and pay attention to the miracles of God. Job 37:14 “Pay attention to this, Job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God! Children are one of the most tangible miracles of God, this was evident when He sent his only son in the form of a baby. In Psalm 127:3 we are reminded, “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.”

I challenge you to stop and listen to the sounds around you this week.  Even if the sounds are ones that you might not normally think of as being miracles. You see it is in the moments when we stop to listen before we react when God can grab us and remind us to refocus on His purpose for those sounds.

Blessings,

Pastor Hope Terhaar