Just Hush and Listen!

Friday, May 20th, 2011

Today's Passage: James 1: 19-27
Memory Verse(s): James 1: 19-20

There's a young man in my class who absolutely fascinates me. In an environment where most of the young people I teach are clamoring for attention and doing their best to build a reputation of who's the biggest and baddest, the way he carries himself is the total opposite. While they're pouring all their energy into competing with one another to see who can talk the loudest and get the most words in, he barely speaks at all.

In an effort to figure out what makes this little guy tick, I started to observe him more closely. Although he doesn't say much, he's as sharp as a blade. He watches everything I do, and watches the interaction of the others without seeming to notice them at all. Even more impressive is the way he handles himself when conflict threatens to arise. Whenever a kid bent on making trouble comes around him, he simply ignores him or her. It's almost as if he goes to a place inside himself that he can focus on rather than the undesirable situation around him.

While retreating into ourselves is definitely not the way to handle conflict as adults or as believers, for that matter, there's something we can learn from this child. He chooses not to speak unless absolutely necessary (when I make him say something just so I can hear his voice and let him know he's a part of us rather than invisible). Because the enemy thrives on confusion, which leads to strife, we must learn to choose our words carefully when we interact with one another. We must spend time doing more listening than speaking, which gives us an opportunity to truly assess the situation and see it for what it really is -- not what the enemy wants us to think it is.

It seems like such a simple thing, but being quick to listen and slow to speak is far from easy. It requires discipline, obedience, humility, and an open heart -- things we all need more of. If you really want to know what's at the bottom of every problem in our relationships, it's the unwillingness to just hush and listen for a moment. If we don't do this, we find ourselves becoming emotional over something that is not as important as we thought. The end result is having to say a thousand apologies that could have been avoided. Interestingly enough, I feared my student would be a target for bullying because he's so quiet, unlike the others. But you know what? He gets along fine with everyone. Go figure, huh?

Prayer: Father, Your Word is true. When You ask us to be quiet and listen before speaking, You're asking us to leave room for Your Spirit to move. You're reminding us to put YOU in charge rather than our emotions, which are so unstable. You're requiring us to give the enemy no place. We trust You, so we will obey. We pray now for Your Spirit to settle and establish Himself in our hearts so that we can bring glory only to You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.