0214 聽的操練
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。《馬太福音 10:27》
有時神讓我們經歷黑暗和管教的磨練，以教導我們聽祂並順服祂。鳴鳥被教導在黑暗中歌唱，神將我們置於祂手的蔭下，直到我們學會聽祂（以賽亞書 49:2）。 「無論我在黑暗中告訴你什麼…」——當神把你置於黑暗中時，要注意，並在黑暗中保持閉口。在你的處境中，或你與神的生活中，你現在是在黑暗中嗎？如果是，那就保持安靜。如果你在黑暗中開口，你會在錯誤的心情下說話——黑暗是傾聽的時候。不要和其他人談論這件事，不要看書來找出黑暗的原因，只要傾聽並服從即可。如果你和別人說話，你就聽不到神在說什麼。當你在黑暗中時，要傾聽，一旦你回到光明中，神就會給你一個非常寶貴的信息可傳給別人。
每一次黑暗之後，我們都應該經歷一種喜悅與羞辱的混合。如果只有喜悅，我懷疑我們是否真正聽見了神。我們應該因聽到神說話而感到喜悅，但更多的是因花了這麼長時間才聽祂而感到羞辱！然後我們會驚叫起來：「我是如此緩慢聆聽和理解神一直在告訴我的事！」然而神已經說了好幾天，甚至好幾周了；但一旦你聽見祂，祂就會賜給你羞辱的禮物，這會帶來內心的柔軟——一份總是會讓你現在傾聽神的禮物。
來自章伯斯的智慧
信心永遠不知道它被引導到哪裡，但它熱愛並認識那位引領者。《竭誠為主》，3月19日
0214 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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L