Jesus says that when we pray, we can move mountains (Mark 11:23). Sometimes, the biggest mountains we have in life are not the ones that are climbed but are the mountains of baggage we’ve accumulated over the course of a lifetime. We’ve all had a lifetime of choices (sometimes those made for us) that add up to the kind of person we tend to be. We are shaped by our experiences and sometimes they leave us bitter, angry, or confused. We had baggage and we need Jesus to help us move mountains.
Jesus sure had a way with people. He could not just talk to them, but He could listen. I think what people need today is to be heard. We need to hear their story, their afflictions, and their hurting. Christians can be good at running straight to the solution – we know Him, we have Jesus, we found Him, He saved us – we’re excited to share the good news! But in our zeal for speaking the truth (Eph 5:15) have we forgotten to listen?
Jesus sure had a way with people. He could listen. We need to learn to listen. Listening is part of “bearing one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2). People need a shoulder to cry on and they need to know they can find it in us. It shows how much we care when we take the time to listen and to try to understand (James 1:19).
Jesus sure had a way with people. He spoke, He listened, and He never left them where He found them. That’s the difference between listening then and listening now. Today, some people just want to be heard and to have their story told, but they don’t want to be challenged. The Gospel challenges us to be better, to be different, and to be transformed by our encounter with Jesus.
Jesus had just such an encounter when He listened to the woman at the well in John chapter 4. Yes, He knew her life and her story before she told him, but Jesus still listened to what she had to say. She shared her beliefs with Him saying in verse 25: ““I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
She knew in part. She lived in part. She had a difficult past. In Christ, she found her future.
But she may not have, had she not had a humble spirit and ears to hear.
