Stop, look & listen

  • Pastor David Hillis
  • Sep 10, 2007

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

“Mr. Hillis? Stop, look, and listen, then proceed with caution. It’s extremely important that you learn to do as the driver’s manual says.”

The short, cold voice coming from the passenger’s seat of my old four-door, baby blue Mercury Comet grated on my nerves that hot summer’s day. That voice once again was coming from a short, old lady in a navy blue uniform who worked for the Georgia State Patrol; she was one of two ladies in a tri-county area where I lived who was responsible for keeping as many teen-agers as possible from getting their driver’s licenses. Or at least, that’s what I thought.

Many 16-year-olds who knew about the obdurate duo were driving an hour or more out of the district to another testing station, but my parents were determined to not let me pursue that option.

And at the age of 17, after numerous driving test failures, I began to think that these two old ladies were determined not to let me drive… ever.

By this time, they knew me on a first-name basis; still, they refused to cut me any slack whatsoever. They had already failed me for not using my blinkers when turning into a parking lot space and now it was time …yes…for the railroad tracks discourse.

“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard of,” I later told my father. “Who ever heard of coming to a complete stop when you get to the railroad tracks, looking in both directions for a train, then turning the radio off, rolling down that window, sticking your ear out and listening for one? I mean, if one of them were coming at me, don’t you think I’d see it?”

My father always did take their side. But you know what? Our Heavenly Father also expects us to follow those rules as we daily run the race of faith.

When it comes to making any decisions in our lives, He expects us to “stop, look, and listen.”

Step 1: Stop

“Stop.” The command may sound simple enough, but it isn’t. At least, it isn’t in today’s fast-paced world of what I like to call “FedEx Christianity.”

No better case of this can be found than with Americans. We eat fast, sleep little, and demand all our news be spoon-fed us within 30 minutes. Everything is a rush, including our time with God. We want an order of forgiveness and an ample supply of grace shipped to us overnight, postpaid, and to us by 11 a.m., just in time for a 60-minute Sunday morning service…only to forget about Him the rest of the week, because we’re “too busy.”

In so doing, oftentimes we are telling ourselves subconsciously that we can procrastinate, and maybe…just maybe…everything will work out for the best and we won’t have to make a decision, either because the problem slipped by without having to, or because someone else made it instead.

No wonder when times come to make decisions in life, whether large or small ones, we don’t hear the Holy Spirit first tell us to “stop.” But it’s only when we stop that we are able to do what he calls us to next: “look.”

Step 2: Look

Once we’ve taken the time to “stop,” we are able to begin looking at the decision before us through objective eyes.

And after looking over the options, the Lord then calls us to look to His Word (2 Timothy 3:15-17). It’s in times like these that a proficient Bible background pays off, for the more we study the Scriptures, the easier it is to recall it and determine the will of God in a given situation.

I do realize there are times when decisions come along in which God’s Word alone doesn’t seem to provide us with answers specific enough to make the choices needed. It is in times like those when, while in the “look” stage of the game, the Lord may prompt us to seek Godly counsel, such as from a Christian counselor or the church pastor.

Notice here, though, I did say Godly counsel. Psalms 1:1 warns against seeking advice from non-believers, even the “oh, he’s good” $100-an-hour psychiatrists, because they simply aren’t equipped to meet a Christian’s needs. Someone ignorant to the Word of God and not tuned to the guidance of the Holy Spirit may offer good advice based on years of experience, but it won’t be based off of God’s Word and therefore may not be the best for you in your situation.

But even by this point, though oftentimes we think we know the perfect will of God, He calls us to yet another step…“listen.”

Step 3: Listen

Isn’t it amazing how so often we, as Spirit-filled, Bible-believing Christians, find the “listening” part of our relationships with God the hardest?

Again, it’s because of the rat race we are constantly trying to run each day. Our sinful natures say we don’t have the time to listen and wait for God’s answer, so we just try to act spiritual and say the way we think looks best “is God’s will.”

However, oftentimes we forget that there is an exception to our little rule, in the Scripture, that oftentimes applies: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8). Sometimes our souls (the mind, will, and emotions) line up with the Spirit, and sometimes not. But to know for certain, we have to listen.

Notice the word “listen” is used here, not “pray.” In situations such as these when we are seeking the will of God, there is no need to constantly be talking before God about the situation; we only need to state our situations to Him once. Our God is not one to forget, so we don’t need to constantly re-explain to Him the decision at hand to be made. Once we ask Him for wisdom, the most important think to do is listen.

Sure, it’s hard…to the flesh. Even most of God’s children who pray regularly do not spend time listening; we so oftentimes make our conversations with Him one way. It’s as if all that needs to be done is fill Him in on how things are going on here on Earth, and then hang up the phone, so to speak.

That’s why oftentimes we try to take the “easy way out” by casting a fleece before the Lord, just as Gideon did in Judges 6, and saying, “Lord, if this is Your will, then prove it by doing this.” Or here’s an even better one: “Lord, if this is Your will, then open the door; if not Lord, then shut it before me.”

What we forget is that the enemy of our souls is hearing every word of this conversation, and may very well be making plans of his own. For oftentimes, just before God’s will is revealed in a situation, satan throws up a counterfeit, and dangles it before our eyes to see if we’ll bite. If we’re only looking at it through carnal eyes…and not earnestly seeking the will of God and looking through the eyes of the Spirit, then we can be, as a pastor once said, “fleeced by a fleece.”

Yes, I do believe there are times when God meets us where we are, just as He did with Gideon, and honors our fleeces; but nowhere does he tell us to do as Gideon did. Instead, he tells us to listen.

If it’s a big decision, there’s nothing wrong necessarily with asking the Lord to confirm it to you. When we start focusing on the signs instead of the author of the signs, however, we begin walking on shaky ground.

So the Lord calls us to listen…but for how long? Until He answers! Until we have peace in our spirits that we are in God’s will, we are to listen. Sometimes it may take time; it may even require fasting, to sufficiently hear His voice over our own. But oh, to be in His will…it is worth it.

As a wise pastor once told me, “Continue to do what you know God told you to do last, until you know so clearly that that season is over that you feel you’re sinning by continuing.” That way, you’ll never be caught questioning yourself and God when, a little while later, things get tough and you want to ask yourself, “Did I really hear from God?” Instead, you will have the determination to persevere.

Then? Proceed with Caution

Once we have heard God direct us then, just as the old lady from the Georgia State Patrol once told me, we are then to proceed with caution. As strange as that may sound, it is important to do…because we never know when a train or a road detour might be around the bend to surprise us!

Once we have followed God in this process, satan’s last-ditch effort will always be to throw something up at us at the last minute to throw us off track. But once we know that we’re in the will of God, nothing should stand in our way.

If he doesn’t bring in confusion to try to make the situation more complicated than it was when God last spoke, then he’ll try to bring in doubt. And sad to say, oftentimes it works.

We’ll be right on the verge of carrying through with God’s plan, or seeing God move Himself on our behalf, when satan tries to distract us with circumstances that appear to be impossible. At times like those, remember the words of Paul: “Stand firm. Let nothing move you” (I Corinthians 15:58).

All along the way, satan will say that these rules are “stupid,” just as I thought one day years ago during that umpteenth driving test, when I approached those railroad tracks. There may be people behind you in a hurry, sitting on their car horns and shouting “Hurry up!” as you stop, roll down the window, and listen. But “let nothing move you.” Wait on God’s command, and look to the left and to the right before going forward. It’s your life; not theirs.

It’ll keep you from getting “off track” with the true One behind the wheel…and from failing another one of those ridiculous driving tests!

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