The Discipline of Hearing

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops —Matthew 10:27

Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark. . .”— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.

After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.

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聽從的操練

我在暗中告訴你們的，你們要在明處說出來。你們耳中所聽的，要在房上宣揚出來。 （太十27）

有時神放我們在黑暗中，是要教導我們聽話。鳴鳥在黑暗裡學習唱歌，我們也要在神的陰影下學習聽他。 [我在暗中告訴你們的]——留意神把你放在什麼黑暗的地方，在那裡你要閉口不言。你如今四面漆黑嗎？你的生命與神之間幽暗嗎？保持安靜吧。在暗中開口，說話會不合宜。黑暗正是靜聽的時刻。不必告訴別人，不必去尋找黑暗的原因，只要留意靜聽；你若告訴人，就听不見神在說什麼！所以，你在黑暗中要聽；神會給你極寶貴的資訊，讓你出到光明後，可以向別人分享。

每一次經過黑暗，都會有一種欣喜與謙卑交織的心情（若只有欣喜，就不是真的聽見神了）。欣喜的時候聽見了神，但主要是謙卑——[我竟花這許多時間才聽見！我多麼遲鈍！而一直以來，神就不斷地說話。 ]這時，神叫你謙卑，使你柔順，從此聽命於他。

祈禱◆主啊，我要用詩人的話來敬拜你——[正直人在黑暗中，有光向他發現。 ]噢，主啊，我在何等的黑暗中！所以，你必然是光。