McFadden Place

At one of our small groups we talked about listening.  It was fascinating.  There were 5 couples that have all been married between 4-11 years and it was very apparent everyone sucked at listening!  Sure there are glimpses of good listening but by enlarge we are all in need of huge improvement.

Here is a little excerpt from an article Peter Bergman published on HBR’s website.  Peter is a strategic advisor to CEOs and their leadership teams.  In other words, he’s great at fixing other people’s problems.  In his recent article he discusses how that didn’t go over well with his wife.  The entire article is available here.

Listening, it turns out, is magic. Not only did it help me understand what was going on with both of us, but it helped Eleanor feel better, too. It made her feel that she wasn’t alone in her feelings; I was with her.

All I had to do was listen.

But listening isn’t easy. The more we listen to others, the more likely we will react — or overreact — to what they say. Listening, it turns out, is much harder than speaking. We have to allow things we might disagree with to hang in the air. We have to move over a little and create space for those things to linger.

This is a great article to read and reflect on.  It helped me think about how I suck at listening.  It’s really hard to listen.  It takes focus.  It takes patience.  It takes energy.  Wow.  I’m exhausted just thinking about it

The next part of our small group we talked about an even more difficult task: listening to God.

We reviewed a handful of scriptures around listening to God.  Take a look … see if any speak to you.

Luke 5

¹⁵ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

John 10

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

…

²⁴ The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”²⁵ Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all^[c]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

Hebrews 10

^19-21So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body.

^22-25So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.

[note: in the section before verses 19-25 the author states that the High Priest used to have to make sacrifices but now Christ has made the single sacrifice needed.

Matthew 7

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.