Learning to Listen #28

Sometimes the call of God's word to listen is not so obvious; it involves digging a little deeper. Proverbs 20 says:

5 The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water,
    but a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love,
    but a faithful man who can find?

Many times we can look at a person's actions and think we know what they are thinking, and why they are doing what they are doing. We begin to think we can judge their motives.  The reality is that many times we need to go deep into their hearts by listening. That's how a man of understanding "draws out" the purpose and intentions of someone else's heart and mind - really listening. That become more clear when we go on to the next verse for a contrast: we can proclaim to love - say it with our words - but that does not make us faithful or steadfast in loving actions, because what we say, think and do are not coming out of pure motives deep down in our hearts. Learning to listen means learning to love and not proclaim it so much.