Listening

One of the roles that God has destined me for in my life is that of a listener.  I stopped fighting it long ago, since my natural inclination is to want to talk.  I found that, instead of talking, God wants me to listen to people...so much so that it isn't very often that He gives me words to say back to the person who is confiding in me.  It can be very frustrating at times, but I've come to the conclusion that if God wants me to impart some wisdom to the person I'm listening to, then He will send it to my mind.  If my mind is blank, that's my cue not to try to conjure up anything.

There is a downside to being a listener, however, and that is that many times I don't have anyone to listen to me.  It's funny how it works out, but often times people don't want to hear your troubles, they only want to tell you theirs.  I'm okay with that, because God, in His goodness, has given me a few people in my life who will listen to me when I am troubled.  I figure this is probably for the best, since if a lot of people listened to me I would just complain WAY TOO MUCH!!!!! 

There are times when something is on my mind and the only "person" who really understands my struggles is God.  While it is hard for me not to vocalize these troubles to a living person, I know that God really does understand all about the situation at hand.   What amazes me in these instances is how He answers me.


Today, for example, while I've been pondering over an issue that I'm not really sure what to do about, He sent me two different people to tell me about issues in their lives that really helped to shed light on my problem.  It took me awhile to realize what had happened, but when I took the time to reflect, I noticed that each person gave me a piece of information that really helped me.  I love how God can turn things around like that.  He can use other people telling me about their problems to help me with my own. 


I guess I'm just glad that I was listening instead of being so wrapped up in my own issues that I didn't catch what was going on.  God can be so subtle sometimes in how He answers us, that we have to be "tuned in" at all times so that we don't miss anything.  How many other times have I missed something that He was trying to tell me because I wasn't really paying attention?  Too many to count, I'm sure!