Stop for a minute. No, really stop and listen. What do you hear? Children? TV? laughter? traffic? ticking clock? I hear the washer and dryer, along with Amazing that you had to be told to stop and listen before those sounds hit your awareness. Sure, you ‘knew’ they were there, but you weren’t hearing them.
Scary, isn’t it? How we need a little push or something out of the ordinary to hear something that’s there all the time???
God is speaking if we will listen. We need to actively listen – that means hearing, not just acknowledging noise – but letting it influence our thinking. The quote below is powerful – productivity versus fruitfulness… Hmm…..
[from http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/serving-a-distraction-to-listening]
We tend to value the volume of things accomplished, and call that “productivity.” God values the importance of things accomplished, and calls it “fruitfulness” (John 15:5). And here’s what’s important to God: that we listen to and believe Jesus. “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29).
So beware of your perceptions. Listening often doesn’t feel like doing. But it might just be the most important thing God wants you to get done today.