Dear Reader,

Recently I've been working on listening. Actually, I am most always working on that skill. It's so easy to get off on tangents while someone else is speaking of how I think I should respond and what I think of what is being shared. Quieting the mind to hear the other person is difficult. I never realized how focused I was on ME and what I THINK.

 
I think we get quite relaxed in marriage regarding conversation. For example, my husband and I will typically finish one another's sentences. Sometimes I like the way he ends my sentences more than I do my own. He is good at seeing the whole big picture of things and summarizes easily. However, I mostly enjoy it because he makes me laugh. He’s a funny guy. At times, though, it can be annoying if I’m trying to say something serious.  Altogether, I am becoming more and more aware that it is important to let people finish what they were going to say without trying to figure out feelings, whether I agree, and how to respond at the same time they are sharing their thoughts. This not only leads to a much longer conversation, it also involves humility and patience not to mention trusting myself that I won’t forget what is important. 

And there is the issue.

 
With the invention of computers and the internet, we are used to quick answers at our fingertips. It seems tedious to wait for the answers. Emails are better than snail mail, instant payments are better than writing a check and adopting another person point of view is easier than researching for our own answers. 

Regarding faith...

 
It is easier to listen to the preacher or teacher and adopt their understanding than it is to search out the truth for ourselves. Easier to piece together personally preferred scriptures into a personal theology than it is to take the scriptures in context regarding the original author and the intended audience and that audience's understanding and THEN apply THAT truth to our lives. Listen to the teacher YES, but more importantly, do your own studies as well. How else can one distinguish truth from untruth?

 
It can seem like too much work and we typically think we are so smart, don't we? Can't we be our own measure for what we believe? Aren't our experiences and philosophies enough?

 
Humility is a great virtue as is self-control and patience (see Galatians 5:22).

 
Our impatience, I suspect, also leads to our finishing God's sentences for Him. He reveals a truth, prophetically speaking or written in Scripture, and we jump ahead with our own interpretation and strategy for obedience and understanding. And, if we are honest with ourselves, we may feel quite "smart" in the process. “Oooo! That was DEEP, can’t wait to share it and what it means!”  While I do advocate sharing what we discover, it is typically a little different from sharing what we think. I a group setting we invite conversation and possibly a greater understanding or correction of what we think a truth implies for the church overall. To depend upon ourselves alone as the measure for interpretation often leads not only to a compromised message but also to a misguided strategy for obedience with an outcome less than what God intends. 

And God will let us do it, if we choose. Oh, He will raise a red flag that it is happening and if, by chance we see that "wait a minute caution", the temptation is to rationalize, "Well, maybe I was mistaken..." or “that’s just the devil after me again…”

We all have a frame of reference from which we see the world and interpret what God is saying. I believe that is why prophetic words can be accurate in the receiving, but not necessarily accurate in the interpretation of the one delivering.

For example, a man (or woman) of God can be wearing the lenses of End Time thinking and still receive a word from God. How he interprets that word will have an End Time application for the man of God because that is where his ultimate focus is, but that doesn't mean that is what God meant.

It's difficult to separate between the revelation and the lenses through which they are interpreted. We don't have much practice. The tendency is to go straight from Revelation to Understanding without seeking the Knowledge so we may obtain wisdom. (see blog series)

 Ideally, if one receives a word from God (revelation), we must understand that our perspective will undoubtedly want to "finish God's sentences for Him." This will lead to a false understanding of the Word delivered and received.  The Words from God were accurate, the vessel through which they were delivered was not.

 
So what am I saying? Don't finish God's sentences. Don't try to explain them for Him. Just deliver the word as it is heard. Then stop. Let Holy Spirit “finish the sentences as they should” This is what Jesus did.

 
John 5:19-20 "... Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

 
and to His disciples Jesus said...

 
John 16:13
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

 
I believe this is true for us today as well. The Holy Spirit reveals to us what we need to know and say if we are listening. Obedience is up to us.

Grace and Peace,

Anne