“Mom.”

“Mom.”

“Mom?”

“Mom!”

“MOM!!”

Usually when this happens I am reading a book, typing on some sort of computer gadget or watching TV. Something happens to my ears when I am engaged in an activity that requires even the slightest amount of focus. The electrical things that go from my ears to my brain to say, “Hey, someone is talking to you and it’s your kid.” is somehow shut off.

 I can hear them. I can. I just can’t seem to get my body to turn and look at them. It’s like they are far away in some other room, in some other house, calling from the other side of the world. I hear you child! I really do. I think you’re trying to communicate! Hang on child! I’ll be there in juuuuust a minute.

One kid could come in and tell me an entire story only to have me look at them and say, “What honey?” The eye rolls. The starting over. The sighs and huffs because they thought they had my attention. Honestly, the should know by now that when my face is down, illuminated by the tiny screen of my phone, I can’t hear them.

I have learned, however, that I need to physically disengage my eyes from whatever I’m doing, turn and look at them, then I can hear them. Listening is so much more than using your ears.

Many people have asked me, “How do I hear the voice of God.”

Well, it’s simple…

listen

Not simple? Why isn’t it? Why is it that we are promised the very essence of God lives in us, that we can have the mind of Christ, and know the will of God, and yet hearing his voice eludes us, escapes us, tempts us?

What’s the problem? Is it that he isn’t speaking, or we aren’t listening? And it’s not just closing your eyes, letting out a sigh, leaning your head back, and waiting while the dang cricket chirps in the corner of your mind.

I know when MY kids are talking to me. In a crowd of hundreds, I can pick out their voice. Why? I’m with them all the time. I know them. I understand them. I spend time with them.

Jesus said that his sheep (us) know his voice and he knows them. The only way to know a voice, to know who that is on the phone when you pick it up (before caller ID), to know who is behind you when someone says your name, is to spend time with them.

No other way to know if you are hearing the voice of God or not, but to spend time with him daily, hourly, minutely, secondly… well, not secondly, firstly, but you get the point. Disengage from the distractions, engage in the relationship. 

Before you ask, “How can I know when I hear the voice of God,” ask yourself, “How much time to I spend with God I want to hear?”

Listen.