listening

Brynna is convinced I can't hear her. She can't use words yet, but about 13 times a day she has something so important to tell me that it overtakes her. She babbles loudly, she bangs on her drum (thanks, Aunt Vikki for the wonderful Christmas present), she grabs my face so I am looking at her, and at times, she even attempts to hit me. Whatever is on her mind requires my undivided attention. What Brynna doesn't understand is that I can hear her just fine. I'm listening even when she doesn't know it. When she's sleeping...I'm listening. When she's playing in another room and it gets a bit too quite...I'm listening. I don't always give her whining, crying or fussing the attention she prefers, but it does not change the fact that I hear her.

I had 3 separate conversations this week with girls convinced that God isn't listening to them. They talk and talk, they yell at Him, they act out in rebellion, all the while convinced that He doesn't hear them. How many times a day does God look down at you or me with the same face I give my 9 month old? It doesn't change His love for us, but He's probably a little tired. Just because He doesn't respond to your whining or rebellion doesn't mean He doesn't hear you. He hears you, baby girl. He's listening.

The question is: are you? When was the last time you stopped to listen to what He has to say? When did you last pick up His Word and read it just to know His ways? Brynna is 9 months old. She's concerned only with herself. She can't grasp yet that I have more to give her than she can see or imagine. You aren't 9 months old, but are you acting like it?

Stop banging on your toy drum. Stop yelling. Stop talking. Listen. And you might just find that He's been listening all along...