Listen …

 Do you hear what I hear? … asks Wayne Rumsby

I

 believe in The Eternally (and currently) Creative Triune God.  I believe that Trinity is relational, and therefore communicative. I believe that God speaks into the moment in a variety of ways, including through the ancient scriptures, through other believers, through nature, circumstances and occasionally even in ways that are mysterious and perhaps a little abstract. 

I clearly remember the first time I ever heard God actually speak to me. I was very busy praying for someone else who was in a desperate situation and then He spoke very clearly, “It’s you that I’m trying to reach”. It made all of my small hairs stand up. It was as if I were listening with every part of me, including those small hairs. How did I know it was God? The voice was full of love and hope.

I didn’t tell anybody, at least until I couldn’t hold on to it anymore. I shared it with a friend who told me that he’d had a similar experience. He was a police officer, not the friendly ones you see standing near the road work crew with their warm cup of Tim’s, rather the type that deal with the bodies of victims of violent, and disturbing crimes. He got to a point where he couldn’t take it anymore. He drove himself to a quiet spot and took out his service revolver and decided to end his life. Then just as he raised the gun to his head, he heard The Voice, one word, his given name. It took a while to sink in, but what God was saying to this desperate and confused man was, “I know you”.

To many, the idea of listening to God is just for those crazy folks who talk out loud to themselves on a crowded subway. Many who hold that view don’t believe in God at all. Others, who share my faith in a living, loving and relational God, believe that everything God has to say is recorded in the Bible. They don’t actually come out and say that, because the scriptures themselves suggest that God can’t be contained in such a manner. So, even to those who believe that God cares, the idea of taking an extended period of time to listen to Him can seem a little strange.

Let me explain that when I say, “listen” I don’t simply mean to give attention with the ear. What I really mean, is to pay close attention, and that really requires all of my senses and more. I often said to my students, when I was teaching woodworking, “you must listen to the wood, it will tell you what it wants to be.”  When I ride my motorcycle I listen to it, and it speaks to me in ways that can’t always be heard. Furthermore, as a hearing impaired person I have had to learn to listen with my other senses. So, when I say listen, I mean totally.

This process of listening totally, with all of your senses, and then some, is a process that requires sifting the details. When I ride my motorcycle, there are many sensations and I must pay attention to. I must sort through them separating the useless or irrelevant information from the useful. There are many sounds and vibrations, some come from the bike and some from the road or from other vehicles. If I am unable to discern which is which then all of the information is useless. Sometimes it requires an extended period of listening or paying attention. I may keep notes, look for patterns, and watch for wear patterns in the tires or the chain sprockets.  I often talk to others who ride, asking them for feedback. I may even talk to the company who made the bike or check my owners manual.

My listening to God time includes, prayer in the form of me speaking out my feelings to Him. My listening time also includes reading scripture to remind me of the character and patterns that I need to listen for as I pay attention. Solitude is also helpful, just listening to nothing. And, my listening time includes working with my hands, cuz that’s who God created me to be.

I encourage everyone to listen to life. Sift life in order to separate the truth from the lies. Truth brings hope and healing, the lies bring doubt and death. Even if you don’t believe there is a living God who cares, He will be revealed, because all truth is God’s truth. Listen with all you heart and mind, but don’t be surprised, that if in the middle of the sounds of war and terror, famine and disaster, you hear, hope, healing and love.

   

 

Writer: Wayne Rumsby is at least a fourth generation follower of Jesus Christ. In his late 30’s Wayne responded to an invitation to visit an inner city mission in the heart of Toronto. At the time he was working as a graphic designer. It wasn’t long before he left his job in the fast paced ad business, in the glass towers, to become a full time missionary on the streets and in the alleys. The focus of his mission was to help the marginalized discover God through meaningful work. For most of the past decade Wayne was helping people discover who God had created them to be, by teaching them to make beautiful furniture in a woodworking shop. Today Wayne and his wife Linda are working with the team at 614 Regent Park with the very same vision, helping people discover who God has created them to be, and more.  

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