The story is told of a young preacher who spent a great deal of time listening to the problems of church members. One day he came home and said to his wife, “How did your day go?” For a half-hour she told him about a problem with the car, their son’s earache, and the difficulties she had getting an appliance repaired. The preacher immediately began the process of solving each problem, citing a list of things she should do.
But she just looked at him and sighed. “I have already done all of that,” she said. “I don’t need you to solve my problems. I just need you to be interested in what I’ve been through.”
When the author of the 119th Psalm pleaded, “Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness” (Psalm 119:149), he was expressing the truth that the God who loves us also listens to us. Listening is a part of loving.
Listening to a wife, a husband, a fellow worker, or a Christian friend may be just what that person needs to be encouraged or to see a problem more clearly. Let’s be sure and closely listen.
God Himself shows that love always listens! (1 Peter 3:12; cf. Psalm 18:6; Psalm 34:15).
"My burden is now so much lighter,
I’ve glimpsed things I needed to see,
I have a fresh hope for tomorrow,
Because someone listened to me." —Egner
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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