A God Who Listens - 6/4/09
A God Who Listens
Chrisy McMillan
A couple of weeks ago, a friend from my home in Wagga Wagga rang me. She was not in a good way.
“I finally worked up the courage to talk to mum,” she said.
My friend became a Christian in Year 9 and since then things have not been easy. Her parents didn’t think much of her decision to follow Jesus. They assumed it was just a phase. But as she kept going to church and youth group each week, and reading the bible became a daily occurrence, they realised she was taking it seriously. They got worried when the whole ‘God thing’ began influencing her decisions for the future, and as her priorities changed, they were just not happy.
Tension grew, and home was no longer a good place to be. The family didn’t feel like a family, it felt like three people, forced to live together. They hardly talked. Fights arose over the smallest of things, her parents started sleeping in separate beds and my friend tried to be as humble and kind as Jesus. And she didn’t find it easy.
She didn’t understand what had happened. She had made a decision to follow Jesus. She hadn’t expected her family to fall apart as a result. For the first time she felt free from guilt. She felt loved by God and knew who she was. Her parents just didn’t want to understand this.
She had been trying for months to build up the courage to ask her mum why thing weren’t the same anymore. Finally she had.
“You’re just not the same person anymore,” came her mum’s reply. “You want different things in life. Everything is about God. You’ve lost yourself. I can’t stand it”.
Now she understood. It was true and it made sense. And yet my friend wanted so much for her mum to understand. She wanted her to understand that she had been set free. That knowing Jesus was more precious to her than anything.
And so we prayed. We prayed that God would soften the hearts of her mum and dad. We prayed that they might start to understand. We prayed that God would save them. And we meant it.
A few days ago, my friend rang me again. “Mum just asked me to start doing Bible studies with me.” I was stunned. “And Dad won’t stop reading the Bible, and asking me questions about it. He’s even answering questions from the Bible that I have!” I just couldn’t believe it.
We don’t know if they will become followers of Jesus. But we do know that God was listening to us when we prayed. He is always listening. And he will always answer. Sometimes it’s yes, sometimes it’s no, and sometimes it’s wait. But God loves his children, and he wants us to ask him for whatever we need. He wants us to rely on him, as helpless and as needy as we are. He is listening and he cares.
Chrisy is a 3rd year Visual Arts student, who loves her degree. She also loves muesli, being in musicals, and praying with people.
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