Listen!

Long after the conversation ended, I replayed it in my head. Had I said the right thing? Could I have replied differently? I was beginning to feel like a text message without emojis, possibly misunderstood. In an effort to sleep, I flung a prayer heavenward. “Lord, please help him hear my heart!”

Communicating with our grown children may be the most difficult part of parenting. I’ve always enjoyed a very close relationship with my own parents and even so, there have been times when words failed us. Each of us has an innate need to be heard and understood. I’m certainly guilty of overthinking things; trying to understand everyone else’s perspective while over communicating my own!

Moses was given the task of parenting the nation of Israel. A newly freed people, he essentially adopted them from the life they knew and was charged by God with leading them to a new place of freedom and independence. As parents, we are charged by God with this same daunting task, but what if our children refuse to listen? Moses listened to God on the mountain, receiving His Law- the Ten Commandments. Multiple times, Scripture records how he repeated God’s message to Israel.

““Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.”

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/deu.6.4-7.nlt

How were successive generations to know God? Parents. Is it any wonder that the character of God is so misunderstood in our generation? Parenting is hard! As our offspring leave the nest, we lose our captive audience! Still we are charged with communicating truth to our own. How do we tell them? What do we say with our words, our actions, our attitudes? God has given us plenty of good material!

“O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.”

Psalms 40:5 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/psa.40.5.nlt

I stumbled upon a very interesting passage of Scripture that has escaped my notice until recently. Long before Israel asked for a king, Scriptures instructs her kings as to how they would lead God’s chosen people.

““When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.”

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/deu.17.18-20.nlt

I’ve read through the Bible many times and I’ve copied passages of Scripture by hand for years as this is my primary learning style, but “copy for myself this body of instruction” and always keep it with me to read daily? We have the advantage of holding our Bibles in any available translation in the palm of our hands via our smartphones, but is it having the impact that God intended when He made this command for His kings?

Paul, possibly one of the greatest communicators of all time both in word and deed and through his letters to the churches, inspires me with his words to the Colossian believers.

“Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.”

Colossians 4:5-6 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/col.4.5-6.nlt

I’m famous for second-guessing myself, but “the word of God will never fail.”(Luke 1:37 NLT) Other translations render this phrase as “nothing is impossible with God!” I’m certain that’s exactly what Mary needed to hear when Gabriel brought her news that she would be charged with parenting Messiah! I’m not the only one to replay conversations in my head. “Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.” (Luke 2:19 NLT) So I say with the Psalmist “let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (19:14) If anyone hears my heart, it’s Jesus!