Topic: A Listening Ear
Bible Reading: Isaiah 30: 18–22
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
(The Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1984 by International Bible Society.)*
Word for Today:
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” – v. 21.
Inspiring Commentary:
At various times in our lives, we all come to situations when we need the firm directions of which way to go, what to do, with whom to do it and even why to do it. God shows that He is alive by keeping us moving, not aimlessly, but to fulfil His eternal purposes, beyond the limits of our understanding and abilities.
This calls for the humility and honesty to say to both God and men: “I am tired. I need help.” The voice that will say which direction to go could be a friend with whom you have grown up, a colleague at work, a minister bringing the word of knowledge from the scripture or from the daily devotional meditation of the word.
This was what I found in a book I was given a few months ago simply called “He still speaks”. It is a collection of the testimonies of some Christian friends in Ghana. Some but not all are ministers of some standing.
Their common experience was that they had learned to listen and respond to God, not just in times of crisis but on a daily basis. We too should note the danger of reading the Bible as if we are doing ‘Lucky dips or pot luck’, which is opening the Bible in a haphazard fashion and trying to find something that we think will speak to our situations.
Prayer
Lord, help me to cultivate the ability to listen to You at all times so that I will perceive your presence.