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Skriven 2005-11-03 05:22:44 av Bob Hoffman (8:8/2)
Ärende: In God's Time
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Faith's Checkbook

November 3

In God's Time

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak,
and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will
not tarry" (Habakkuk 2:3).

Mercy may seem slow, but it is sure. The LORD in unfailing wisdom has appointed
a time for the outgoings of His gracious power, and God's time is the best
time. We are in a hurry; the vision of the blessings excites our desire and
hastens our longings; but the LORD will keep His appointments. He never is
before His time; He never is behind.

God's word is here spoken of as a living thing which will speak and will come.
It is never a dead letter, as we are tempted to fear when we have long watched
for its fulfillment. The living word is on the way from the living God, and
though it may seem to linger, it is not in reality doing so. God's train is not
behind time. It is only a matter of patience, and we shall soon see for
ourselves the faithfulness of the LORD. No promise of His shall fail; "it will
not lie." No promise of His will be lost in silence; "it shall speak." What
comfort it will speak to the believing ear! No promise of His shall need to be
renewed like a bill which could not be paid on the day in which it fell due-"it
will not tarry."

Come, my soul, canst thou not wait for thy God? Rest in Him and be still in
unutterable peacefulness.

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Ten Reasons to Listen to Questions Before You Answer

October 25, 2005 - Fresh Words Edition By John Piper

http://www.desiringgod.org/library/fresh_words/2005/102505.html

Meditation on Proverbs 18:13

If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.

1. It is arrogant to answer before you hear. Humility does not presume that it
knows precisely what a person is asking until the questioner has finished
asking the question. How many times have I jumped to a wrong conclusion by
starting to formulate my answer before I heard the whole question! Often it is
the last word in the question that turns the whole thing around and makes you
realize that they are not asking what you thought they were.

2. It is rude to answer a half-asked question. "Rude" is a useful word for
Christians. It means "ill-mannered, discourteous." The New Testament word for
it is aschemonei. It is used in 1 Corinthians 13:5 where modern versions
translate it, "Love is not rude," but the old King James Version has "Love doth
not behave itself unseemly." This means that love not only follows absolute
moral standards, but also takes cultural mores and habits and customs into
account. What is polite? What is courteous? What are good manners? What is
proper? What is good taste? What is suitable? Love is not indifferent to these.
It uses them to express its humble desire for people's good. One such
politeness is listening well to a question before you answer.

3. Not answering a question before you hear it all honors and respects the
person asking the question. It treats the person as though their words really
matter. It is belittling to another to presume to be able to finish their
question before they do.

4. Careful listening to a question often reveals that the question has several
layers and is really more than one question. Several questions are all mixed
into one. When you see this, you can break the question down into parts and
answer them one at a time. You will not see such subtleties if you are hasty
with your answer and not careful in your listening.

5. A question sometimes reveals assumptions that you do not share. If you try
to answer the question on the basis of your assumptions without understanding
the questioner's assumptions, you will probably speak right past him. If you
listen carefully and let the person finish, you may discern what he is assuming
that you do not. Then you can probe these assumptions before you answer. Often,
when dealing at this level, the question answers itself. It was really about
these deeper differences.

6. Questions usually have attitudes as well as content. The attitude sometimes
tells you as much as the content about what is really being asked. In fact, the
attitude may tell you that the words being used in this question are not all
what the issue is. When that is discerned, we should not make light of the
words, but seriously ask questions to see if the attitude and the words are
really asking the same question. If not, which is the one the questioner really
wants answered?

7. Questions have context that you need to know. So many thoughts and
circumstances and feelings may be feeding into this question that we don't know
about or understand. Careful listening may help you pick up those things. It
may be that there is just a small clue that some crucial circumstance is behind
the question. If you catch the clue, because you are listening carefully, you
may be able to draw that out and be able to answer the question so much more
helpfully.

8. Questions are made up of words. Words have meanings that are formed by a
person's experience and education. These words may not carry the same meaning
for both you and the questioner. If you want to answer what they are really
asking, you must listen very carefully. When the possibility exists that their
question is rooted in a different understanding of a word, we will be wise to
talk about the meaning of our words before we talk about the answer to the
question. I find that talking about the definitions of words in questions
usually produces the answer to the questions.

9. Proverbs 8:13 says it is our "folly" to answer before we hear. That is, it
will make us a fool. One reason for this is that almost all premature answers
are based on thinking we know all we need to know. But that is "foolish." Our
attitude should be: What can I learn from this question? The fool thinks he
knows all he needs to know.

10. And finally Proverbs 8:13 says that it is our "shame" to answer before we
hear. What if you are asked publicly, "My wife and I have had serious problems
and we were wondering . . ." and you cut the questioner off by giving your
answer about the value of counseling and what counselors might be helpful. But
then they say, "Well, actually, what I was going to say was, "My wife and I
have had serious problems and we were wondering, now that our counseling is
over and things are better than ever, how you would suggest that we celebrate?"
Then you will be shamed for not listening.

Still learning to listen with you, Pastor John
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