This is what the LORD says: I brought you out of Egypt … But you have not listened to me” (Judges 6:7, 10).

[Editor’s Note: We continue this week’s archive of devotionals that paired with the August 2021 sermon series Let’s Go! We pray you’ll receive a blessing and maybe even a challenge from today’s reading.]

The key to understanding why the Book of Judges is so depressing is found in these words from God: “You have not listened to me.”

Our fast-paced, high-intensity, can-do lives aren’t very congenial to listening. Our culture privileges those who can tell us things, who can quickly deliver information and perspective.  We love being able to google the answer to whatever questions pop into our minds. When we find ourselves listening to someone talk, and feel they are going on too long, we make, in our heads, that little hand-rolling gesture: C’mon, c’mon, get to the point, cut to the chase.

Listening strikes us as … passive.  Not helpful. Unproductive. Surely we have far better ways to use our precious time!

Gideon’s story begins with the LORD initiating a conversation with Gideon: “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior” (6:12). After much argument from Gideon and much reassurance from God, Gideon finally listens to God. Then, when he does what God tells him to do, things go well. Not easily – he has battles to fight – but well in the end.  

Life then and now is often difficult, always demanding, rarely completely smooth sailing. Life then and now is noisy, with all kinds of voices within and without clamoring for our attention.  

When it comes to listening to God, we can fall into several traps. One is indifference: “God has my contact info, so if he wants to reach me, he knows where to find me. Now, I gotta get going.”  

Another is impatience: “Lord, I can give you two minutes; get to the point!”  

A third is discouragement: “Since I don’t have three hours to seek the Lord every day, I can’t be a person who listens to God … and God probably doesn’t want to talk with someone so ‘unspiritual’ anyway.

The Good News? God indeed has your contact info and has already been speaking to you.  We don’t have to persuade God to speak; we need to persuade ourselves to listen to the already-ongoing communication. Gideon was not looking for God, but God was looking for Gideon! God is seeking you, too.

Second, God is able to work within our limitations. If “only two minutes!” is where you need to start, start there. Nothing is too small for God to work with. Just don’t be surprised if you find those two minutes slowly but steadily growing.

Finally, listen to God as you are able to, not as you’re unable to. Some of us are the kind of people, or are at an age and stage of life, where longer times in God’s presence flow more naturally. Some of us, for a variety of reasons, are more hurried and harried. Some have “a hard time” with the Bible or prayer or journaling or simply sitting quietly before the Lord.  

Start where you are, as who you are. Give to God what you have, not what you don’t have. And don’t be surprised as God starts to give you more: more of himself along with more capacity, and desire, to listen to him.

“But you have not listened to me.”  Where do these words hit you in particular: have you been indifferent or impatient or discouraged? Something else? What might a “more listening you” look like – and what is one step God is inviting you to take into that?