Good technical help is not easy to come by … and it’s not because the skill and know-how are hard to find.

When you visit another country and they speak a language that you do not, there is definitely a communication barrier. I’ve been to several countries where I didn’t speak the language. I could communicate but it was not very easy.

A few times I have preached with an interpreter and that takes a little getting used to. You need to keep your sentences short and only speak a couple of sentences at a time. Then you just hope that the interpreter is telling the people what you said … and not telling them what he thinks of what you said or how you are dressed. When you didn’t tell a joke but the people laugh at what the interpreter says, you get a little suspicious.

My wife, Lily, and I went to Quebec City for a vacation one year. Fortunately, Lily can speak a little French and she understands more than she can speak. For myself, after bonjour, I’m a little thin on my French. 

In grades seven and eight I learned how to say pen and pencil and a few other words. But that will not get you far, especially if you are trying to order a meal. You won’t find pencil lead or ink on the menu.

I also have the ability to  speak words with a French accent so they sound French. … You should hear me say “dessert”.

But you can’t really communicate effectively with what I have to work with. 

In Quebec I would get off to a great start with my “bonjour” but then when they would say something back to me, I would just look at Lily, sort of like,”Okay, take it from here.”

This week I’ve been trying to switch our church website hosting from one company to another. Basically we are creating a brand new website. The new website will be easier to use and update, but it doesn’t seem to be easy to switch it from the old site.

Part of the difficulty in making the switch is that the technical support people, from each company involved, are speaking a different language. 

On the surface it appears they all communicate in English. But that’s misleading because what they say is very difficult to understand. 

Maybe they are too used to talking to computers and they have lost the art of communicating with humans. Maybe they only know certain phrases and words in English so they stick to the phrases they know. 

I had technical help from three companies: my new website host, my old website host, and my URL name registrar. After a day and a half it seemed like none of them could or were willing to help. They knew the solution but they didn’t communicate it to me in terms that were clear to me. 

I just needed to ask the right questions and listen carefully to their answers. 

Here’s the thing: Some people feel like that with God. They ask God questions or for certain things but they don’t get or understand the answers. The thing is God will communicate to us clearly, but often we are not really listening very well. Listen to God with your eyes, your mind, your heart and your ears. He is speaking clearly to you. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In what way do you need to improve your listening skills with God? Leave your comments and questions below.

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