Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – April 1, 2016
Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend. Job 6:26-27
We all want to be heard—for our ideas to be valued. But when we feel unheard, especially by friends—our heart can slump into an unhealthy posture of dejection. We ache. From time to time we all need correction, but not to the point of contempt—where it seems like every time we open our mouth, our antagonist attacks us. There was a season in my work where I felt totally unheard. My supervisor acted deaf. The intimidation and innuendos were painful to my heart and sickening to my soul. Eventually, we parted ways—sadly we never fully understood each other.
Job finds himself in a situation where he feels totally on the outside of a relationship that once throbbed with passion and possibilities. He tries to reason with an unreasonable person—Eliphaz—but, Job’s integrity is on the defensive. Like a swirling wind captures a feather, once Job’s words cross his lips, they are swept away and dismissed by a mind already made up. He tries to claw back with a straightforward and stingingly accurate civil discourse. Job learns: unfair accusations need to be addressed with a prayerful, direct response. Integrity hears—then speaks!
“He who walks in integrity and with moral character walks securely, But he who takes a crooked way will be discovered and punished” (Proverbs 10:9, AMP).
Do you feel unheard, misunderstood or misrepresented? If so, be patient, pray—don’t become like the one who makes you feel undone. Ask the Lord what He wants you to learn. As you experience a crucible of sadness, seek quiet but honest introspection. Ask the Holy Spirit to burn away the unnecessary and leave only what’s necessary for Christ’s purposes. By faith you learn to scale the mountain of God’s will in the valley of death to self. Humility listens and learns.
By God’s grace, seek to speak the truth with patient, defenseless clarity. Integrity has nothing to prove, only to lean into its proven track record of submission to Jesus. Chronic, non verbal passivity only compounds a communication break down. Instead, courageously practice saying out loud: What you feel. What you shouldn’t do. What the truth is. What you should do. For example, say out loud: I feel disrespected. I want to attack. But in Christ, I am respected. An unheard heart must express its deep desire for an honest hearing. God always hears you.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for hearing my heart so I have the boldness to share my heart.Application
Who is not listening, that I must sit down with and respectfully share my heart?Related Reading
Psalm 39:1; Jeremiah 5:13; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Mark 10:47-48; Ephesians 1:7-9Post/Tweet today
We learn to scale by faith the mountain of God’s will in the valley of death to self. #WisdomHunters #unheardWorship Resource
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This piece on being unheard was very helpful to me. Thank you for the Job scripture- I can relate. People (we) hear sometimes what we want to hear. This is confirming for me that in emotionally stable situations, it is good to take a straight path to clarify what we mean- to offering again the truth. Proverbs 10:9. My problem has been to be unheard and justify for them all the reasons it is ok that they didn’t hear/ see me. As I see my value more and more in Christ, I see there is a better way. Still, I get hung up on the scripture (Matthew 7:6)— maybe they will never hear ?