Can You Hear Me Now? 1 Corinthians 14:29-40

I lead a mission trip to Mississippi once that rocked my world. It all started during church on Sunday, the first day of our trip. Positioned in the back of the congregation in order to keep an eye on my students who where spread throughout the sanctuary, I hadn’t realized the extreme oppressive weight I was feeling until the pastor interrupted his own sermon saying, God was speaking to him and he had to address something.

He asked the congregation to pray with him so I closed my eyes and bowed my head. The pastor started to pray about someone in the congregation who needed encouragement. As he described what was weighing this individual down, I knew he was talking about me.

Keeping my eyes closed, and head down I let the words sink in. Tears were streaming down my face as I felt the weight lift. How did this man know what was going on inside of me? I had never met him before. As he was ending his prayer the pastor asked a woman from his congregation to stand up and give the woman in the back, wearing the brown headband, a hug and tell her that God loves her. Oh my, I thought, I’m the woman with the brown headband.

What an amazing experience! Our scripture today says, “If someone sitting there receives a message from God, the speaker must stop and let the other person speak.” This is exactly what happened that Sunday, only the person speaking and the one receiving a message from God were the same person.

This experience made me question, am I sensitive to God’s leading when I speak, or am I more focused on getting my words out that I don’t listen? Today’s passage is more about listening than it is about talking and we all should be listening to God.

Read today's passage at Biblegateway 1 Corinthians 14:29-40