{"id":74717,"date":"2022-08-30T15:59:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T21:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/?p=74717"},"modified":"2022-08-30T15:59:31","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T21:59:31","slug":"listening-for-gods-holy-whisper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/listening-for-gods-holy-whisper\/","title":{"rendered":"Listening for God’s Holy Whisper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listening for God’s Holy Whisper<\/strong>
\nWhat I learned when I heard the words I didn\u2019t want to hear
\nBy Sherry Surratt<\/em><\/p>\n

Some days we need a cheerleader \u2026 Someone to say, \u201cKeep going, you can do this!\u201d when we feel like giving up.<\/p>\n

Then there are other days\u2014days when we need that gentle voice of encouragement from someone who knows us well. That\u2019s when we need someone to say, \u201cI know this feels hard, but you did the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there are the days when you just need someone to tell you the truth.<\/p>\n

This was one of those days. You see, a conversation hadn\u2019t gone well. Someone on my team came to me with a problem deep from the heart, and it was a problem with me.<\/p>\n

To be perfectly honest, I didn\u2019t want to hear it. During the conversation I could feel my body tense. I could hear my words getting hard. I couldn\u2019t stop myself as I took a turn around the bend to an ugly destination: defensiveness.<\/p>\n

After the conversation, I felt defeated. Why did I again feel the need to go down the path of justification? I had responded by saying \u201cBut that\u2019s not what I meant! I don\u2019t understand how you could think that.\u201d I could have responded with even the slightest trickle of humility. I could have said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I can see how that hurt your feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

What Is God Whispering?<\/strong>
\nGoing down this path again, even though I didn\u2019t want to, made me feel sad and disappointed.<\/p>\n

As I talked it over with my friend Sibyl, she didn\u2019t launch into how wonderful I was or how perfectly human it was to have this response. She didn\u2019t immediately tell me everything was going to be fine. She didn\u2019t tell me not to feel bad. She just listened. She sat with me and didn\u2019t rush my words, giving me freedom to empty my heart of selfish indignation and the prideful resentment of being misunderstood. Then she made an observation, almost in the form of a question: \u201cI wonder what it is that God wants to whisper to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whispers are so gentle. Sometimes the very breath tickles your ear and you have to get still and lean in. Whispers are intimate, words meant just for you and you alone. They are compelling.\u00a0Come closer. I want to share this with you.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sibyl\u2019s response took me off guard.\u00a0Whispers from God?<\/em>\u00a0No Sibyl, what I really want is for you to tell me I\u2019m not in the wrong here.<\/em><\/p>\n

But Sibyl was leading me a different way. She knew I felt hurt in my heart. She also knew that in the midst of conflict, in the very center of relational pain, God has things he wants to teach us. She encouraged me to slow down, saying, \u201cGet still, Sherry. Listen to the voice that matters. There are things God wants to say to you. Lean in to the gentleness, the very roots that God grounded you with so long ago. It\u2019s not me you need to hear from. It\u2019s him.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was truth. It wasn\u2019t exactly what I wanted, but it was what I needed. So often, I run to friends who love me when my heart or feelings are hurt. I want their affirmation, their confirmation, their very words to heal my bruises.\u00a0Tell me I\u2019m okay. Tell me I\u2019m right to be angry. Tell me you\u2019re on my side!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sibyl\u2019s words reminded me that God\u2019s holy whispers were the words I really needed to hear. It\u2019s those whispers straight from God\u2019s heart that give my soul the roots to grow and the wings to fly. Sometimes God has so much more to say than \u201cYou\u2019re okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes he wants to work on my attitude, to form me into the person he knows I can be. Sometimes he wants to whisper what my anger really means\u2014that it\u2019s a reflection of my pride and self-centeredness. God\u2019s whispers aren\u2019t shouts of condemnation. They are quiet and compelling, an invitation to come and be still. But it\u2019s an invitation I\u2019ll miss if I\u2019m not careful.\u00a0Come and listen. Come and grow.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lean into the whispers. He has things to say.<\/p>\n

Sherry Surratt is the Director of Parenting Strategy for Orange Family Ministry. She is the former CEO of MOPS International and the author of several books, including\u00a0Brave Mom<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Beautiful Mess<\/em><\/a>, and\u00a0Just Lead<\/em><\/a>. You can connect with her online at\u00a0SherrySurratt.com<\/a>\u00a0or follow her on Twitter at\u00a0@SherrySurratt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2022 Christianity Today<\/strong>\u00a0– a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listening for God’s Holy Whisper What I learned when I heard the words I didn\u2019t want to hear By Sherry Surratt Some days we need a cheerleader \u2026 Someone to say, \u201cKeep going, you can do this!\u201d when we feel like giving up. Then there are other days\u2014days when we need that gentle voice of <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":74713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3380,4661,276,266],"tags":[1187],"class_list":["post-74717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-leadership-articles","category-resources-ndi","category-sunday-school-and-discipleship","tag-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}