God Speaks Louder than Toddlers
For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. Job 33:14
I had breakfast with a seventeen month old boy (and his Mom) this morning.
As his mother and I tried to talk and visit he was making a lot of noise. He is in that, “if I’m holding it I will throw it” stage. Everything his mother gave him to occupy him, first a book, then part of a breakfast burrito, and then my car keys (okay, I gave him the keys), he held for a few seconds and then threw them on the floor but wanted them back immediately.
Mom played a long for a while. Each time he did it he would screech until she picked it up. He’s really a very cute little boy and so I started to pay more attention to him. It was amazing to see how he communicated. It was not as obvious when I was caught up in my own conversation with his mother but the more I watched, the more I “heard”.
His screeching was not just for the sake of screeching. He was communicating something very clear that we did not hear when we were not paying attention. “Pick that up” (I’m sure “please” was implied!). “Give me that.” “May I get out of this highchair?” “More.” “I’m tired.”
His mother and I were talking about practical things with spiritual implications. On the way home I was sort of processing the whole morning and realized how hard it must be for a young child who was clearly trying to communicate with me while I was oblivious. His Mom kept up with him pretty well but I was clueless until I really put my mind on him.
I thought about the spiritual implications of that. I miss a lot when I am wrapped up in my own conversations and my own agenda for a day. I wonder how often the Lord tries to communicate with me and I act as if He isn’t even in the room!
I remember a study I did years ago teaching that God speaks to us through His Word, through His Spirit by giving us peace (or not) about something we are thinking or praying about, through our circumstances, and through another person speaking truth into our lives. I guess what I understood this morning is that it is easy to get up and walk past my Bible some days without opening it at all, not even giving His Word a chance to speak to me. It’s also really easy not to hear something the Holy Spirit communicated because I allow myself to get distracted by other things and so even my circumstances can be taken for granted and never looked at from the perspective of what God is doing in my life. I can even turn off truth just like I turned off that little boy at breakfast.
I want to be wowed by God’s communication with me more than I am the ability of toddler to communicate. I just wonder how much I have missed.
How about you, are you listening for the Spirit’s direction? Are you studying the Word of God so He can speak? Are you asking God to reveal what He is doing in your circumstances? He is speaking. Are we paying attention?