In Other Words--Talking to the Navigator

"It doesn’t matter what is behind you as much as it matters who is beside you."
~ Ellen ~
"Laced with Grace"

My husband is convinced that I am a lousy navigator. He would much prefer Sat-Nav to me when directing us to a new destination. Granted I occassionally say right when I mean left, but I always point in the correct direction. He needs to read the entire direction not just the oral direction and we would get there just fine. I know this is true because all of my girlfriends prefer me to Sat-Nav. I am always the one asked to direct, even if I'm sitting in the back. Why? Because they trust me to communicate to them how to get somewhere in a way that they understand. An informal poll at one time with several friends concluded the same thing--our husbands thought we were bad navigators because they did not listen to us. I guess it really does boil down to how men and women communicate.

As I read this quote and thought about the difficulties my husband and I have when I'm navigating versus the non-difficulties with female friends, I wondered if this is my problem in navigating life. Do I say to God, come beside me and guide me and then only listen with human fallible ears that expect the directions to be in the manner I would give them? If so, I am destined to get lost because if I'm listening to what I expect I will probably miss His voice. Or am I listening with ears that hear the way He communicates? That is what will keep me on the right path.

How do we develop ears that hear God? We are obviously capable of this. In telling the parables Jesus sometimes said, "Let them that have ears, hear" (see Matthew 11:15, 13:9 for example) So it seems like hearing is a choice. I know I choose to hear voices in a crowd that I recognize. I'll tune in to them and exclude the others. My friends and I share a common language of past experiences, expectations, and dreams. That is why we are able to communicate effectively. That is what God calls us to as well. He calls us to choose to hear Him, to choose to listen to His directions. The more time I spend with Him the more I am able to tune into His voice and crowd out all the other noise in my life. The closer I walk with Him the more of a common language we will share. I must choose to get closer to Him, to communicate more like Him and to trust His direction. That is why it matters who is beside me navigating--I choose to let Him navigate and I choose to follow.