Isaiah 50:4-9a

“The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.” vs. 4

We know from the gospels that Jesus looked to the prophet Isaiah for inspiration and direction. According to Luke, his first day on the job, as he taught in the synagogue in Nazareth, he used Isaiah 61 to describe how he had been anointed by the Spirit of the Lord to bring good news to the poor. Later we can imagine him regularly reviewing the words of Isaiah 51. The Lord had given him the tongue of a teacher that he might sustain the weary with a word, and now, morning by morning he wakened before dawn to go out in the hills to pray. There in his prayers Isaiah reminded him to listen, to listen as those who were taught. What a lesson for us in our own Spirit-driven missions! We think we know the needs of those we’ve been sent to serve, but too often we lead with our tongues rather than our ears. It’s just so hard, when we’re full of good ideas, to shut our mouths and take time to listen. And sometimes even when we do think we’re listening we’re only thinking of the next thing we want to say. Blessed are those teachers who really listen–for it’s as we’re listening that the healing comes.  Often we don’t need to say a word!

Thought for the Day: How are my listening skills?