L.I.S.T.E.N.

I have a love/hate relationship with acrostics. I love them like I love salad. Occasionally you get a salad that is as close to perfect as salad can go. Usually, I am not the one who has made it. The lettuce is delicious and crisp, the tomatoes are juicy and actually have flavour beyond that of cardboard, the olive oil is light, just flavourful enough without being overpowering and bitter. On the flip side, you can get salads where the lettuce is all limp and brown, and there's really nothing good to go on the lettuce. So basically it's not a salad. It's a lettuce. And it's gross.

While I have a slight fascination with acrostics, I'm not very good at making them. Kind of like salad.

I've been thinking lately on what it means to listen. Naturally, I made an acrostic of it.

Listen:

Love

Inquire

Sympathize

Turn

Encourage/Exhort

Nurture

Love

The whole law of God is summed up in loving Him with our whole being, and loving our neighbour as ourselves. I would not imagine listening to anyone without love being the foundation of the interaction. Often we find ourselves listening to things that we do not necessarily wholly agree with, and therefore the definition of love from 1 Corinthians 13 is applicable to listening as much as to every other situation. I would say that patience is especially important when listening.

All too often I'd prefer not to listen. I'd sooner jump in with my own conclusions, or the solution to the problem, even if I don't really know what the problem actually is. I want to fix things. I want to connect the dots. Love means taking the time to truly listen, to patiently hear, to understand. God truly listens to us, because He loves us. We know that when we pray to God, He hears our cry. He inclines to us. Do we incline to others?

Inquire

I would suggest that listening often leads to questions. When you are listening, questions spring up to help you delve deeper into the issue, to get at the root of the problem. In order to do that, you have to pay attention. Listening means you do not let your attention wander. You focus, so that you can understand all the particulars, and inquire as to the things that you don't quite understand. Jesus always asked the important questions. He got down to the bottom of things. He remained focused on the true issue, not on the rabbit trails that could develop through the conversation.

Sympathize

If you truly listen, you do not remain aloof and indifferent to the struggles of others. You feel, as best you can, what they do. You put yourself in their place in order to grasp the truth of the situation. Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses. He knows us. He is tender and gentle with us. He knows our frame. He is so careful, in every sense of the word. Are we careful with others?

Turn

Turn the conversation back to what is most important: Christ Jesus. As you listen, keep your mind on the gospel, on how God has spoken His healing (and admonishment) upon a given situation. Remind the hurting of the hope in Jesus. Remind the joyful of the ultimate source of their joy. Give praise to God, cry out to God, lead to God even as you listen. Point back to the Beloved Son. Listen to Him.

Encourage/Exhort

Listening is an encouragement all by itself. For the person relating their struggles, it is an encouragement to know that someone is hearing them, walking with them. Don't leave them to flounder in self-pity. Be there. Speak the truth. I find so much comfort when I pour out my heart to my Saviour, because I know that He listens and hears every word by His grace. I have nothing special or spectacular to say. My words are often small, weak, and pitiful. I repeat myself, carry on with the same old, same old. Yet, God never tires of my repetition. He speaks His words of love, His words of rebuke, His good news over and over to my heart, spreading the balm of grace all over my wounded soul.

Sometimes, when you are listening, there comes a time for you to speak up and admonish, to rebuke. This, too, should be done in love, with a mind toward a deeper understanding of the truth. People tend to share so that you will communicate. Now, this is not always the case - sometimes people merely want you to listen - but be prepared to respond. This also requires you to focus on what they are saying.

Nurture

Cultivate your relationship through communication. Seek something deeper. Point to Christ. Seek a furtherance of trust and understanding, of wisdom and resting together in the grace of God. Jump in. Go deep. Jesus never stayed on the surface. He went straight to the heart. He was always refreshingly real. He always listened, and He always will listen.

O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

Daniel 9:18