The God who Listens

Have you ever thought to yourself or complained out loud “No-one ever listens to me!” Perhaps you had older brothers and sisters who always seemed to get their own way. Maybe in the workplace your ideas and suggestions to improve efficiency or save time were never treated seriously. Perhaps, like me, you have at times felt completely frustrated by the political process and how decisions are taken, and laws introduced which are ungodly or directly opposed to your own values and opinions.

It can be really disheartening and frustrating when those with authority over our lives fail to listen to us. The Bible verse today reminds us that the supreme authority in the universe always listens to us. ‘You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry’ (Psalm 10:1). If you are feeling oppressed or afflicted, or if you are feeling weighed down with problems and situations in your life, be encouraged today that God listens to your cry.

In the Book of Exodus, we read how the Israelites groaned because of the burden of their slavery and they cried out for help. In response to their prayer, God raised up Moses to lead the people out of captivity and into freedom. God speaks to Moses out of the burning bush: ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey’ (Exodus 3:7-8).

King David faced many trials and difficulties in his life. In a song of praise celebrating that God had delivered him from his enemies and from the hand of Saul, he declared, ‘In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears’ (2 Samuel 22:7). The certainty that God always listens, causes the psalmist to proclaim: ‘Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live’ (Psalm 116:2).

God may not respond in the way we would like. God does not over-ride the free will of those who may offend or sin against us. Nevertheless, we can be sure that, as we cry out to God, God always hears. Even when the circumstances might not immediately change, we can change and the way we respond to the circumstances can change. As we cry out to God, He is able to strengthen and comfort us and impart His peace into our spirit.

Prayer: Father God, thank You that You are the God who inclines Your ear and listens to us when we cry out to You. You know about every situation and circumstance that I face today. I pray that You will strengthen me and help me to cast all my cares and anxieties on You. I pray that I can know Your presence and Your peace in my life. Amen.