Learning to Listen

When you cast a stone, you never know how far the ripples will go.

My church has been going through some rocky times lately. While this is not uncommon, it still can be kind of miserable when it happens at your own church. The thing about churches is that they are run by people; they are people trying to serve God, but still people. People are broken by nature. Think about what a glass looks like when it’s broken; it has sharp edges. Broken people are like that as well. Most of us have certain parts of us that are sharp and we can cut others as well as get cut ourselves. Feelings sometimes get hurt and people leave the church altogether.  Who wins then?

I was recently talking to a dear friend of mine about our church and its current troubles. She had become very frustrated and was wondering what she should do. (Just for the record, we take turns encouraging each other and that day just happened to be my turn.) We talked for a little while and then we hung up. But, this particular day, I felt like God was in my ear and was putting the idea of pruning in my head, so much so, that I had to call her back and share it with her.

When you prune a tree or a bush, it’s very ugly for a time.  Sometimes you prune way back and sometimes just a little; either way, there’s a season where it looks bare and sometimes, it looks completely dead. But, then something amazing happens. The season changes and that ugly little tree or bush will burst out in growth and bloom more beautifully than it ever did before.  Jesus tells us in John 15 that the Father is a gardener who cuts off every branch that bears no fruit and he prunes every branch that does so that it can be even more fruitful.  She thanked me for calling her back and agreed that maybe I was right.

That was a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday, she sent me a text and told me how a good friend of hers was going through a really  bad divorce. The friend called her late one evening for some encouragement. She shared the pruning story. She said her friend began sobbing and told her that was exactly what she needed to hear.

When I read the text, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. God gave me a message and told me to share. I did. My friend then shared it with her friend and was able to bring her some comfort. I think this is part of  God’s plan for us while we are on this side of heaven. I think we are supposed to bring comfort when we can and show kindness and encouragement to our fellow humans.

Jesus told us that the most important commandment was to love the Lord your God with all of your soul, mind and strength and then he said the second most important was to love your neighbor as yourself. He said there was no greater commandment than these two. (Mark 12:28-30) That seems simple enough, right?

Apparently not, just turn on the news. I have to ask myself, how am I doing with loving my neighbor and I have to admit I have a ways to go, but I’m really trying to listen to God’s voice and to take my direction from Him. I probably miss way more opportunities than I take, but that particular day, I think I got it right and I’m so thankful, that my friend listened as well and was able to share a positive outcome. Sharing the love of Christ through loving your neighbor is like tossing a pebble in a lake; you never know how far out the ripples will go. Let’s all toss in a pebble and see how much of a splash we can make today.

Have an awesome day.

Wendy 🙂