"Hear" Between The Lines

A few days ago while at school I overheard a phone conversation between a female classmate and her mother. They were discussing a house that she (my classmate) was looking to rent. She became ecstatic and overwhelmed with emotion when she was informed by her mother that the house had a walk-in closet in the master bedroom.

I heard her say "I can't believe it, a real closet, I'm going to have a real closet!"

I laughed to myself and wanted to say "It's just a closet, find out if it has enough cabinet space in the kitchen."

After returning to class after break I again heard her begin to talk about this new house. Getting a new home can be exciting. It is fun to plan and decorate. It is fun to arrange the furniture just right. It is fun to imagine the different memories that  you will make in that new home....But her excitement seemed really over the top. Then I started to really listen!

She began to tell me that this house represented a new beginning for her. She has spent the last year recovering from an addiction to alcohol and drugs. She was finally enjoying her 2yr old son. She told me that she was excited that this house was going to be her home and she would no longer have to spend a few months here and there.

Talk about feeling immediate guilt - in a split moment of over-hearing something, I had made an uncaring and judgmental thought about someone. What would have happened  to this young lady's, a daughter of Christ, self-esteem if I had made a joke or an insensitive comment about "It's just a closet". The effect would have been hurtful and damaging, because our words matter.

Just when I thought I was simply being kind by listening to her talk about a "walk-in closet", I heard Jesus whisper to me..."Really listen to her."

I was able to hear a young lady speak about her struggles, her fears, her insecurities, her dreams and desires. But, what I was really hearing was "I need someone to believe in me, I need someone to tell me there is hope, I need someone to tell me I have a purpose."

The door was opened.  God wanted to use me to tell her that I believed in her, but more importantly, that Christ believed in her. 
    
  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.- Ephesians 2:10

She needed someone to tell her that there is Hope in Jesus Christ.
  
  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.- 1 Peter 2:9

She needed someone to tell her that she was created on purpose for a purpose.
  
  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.- Corinthians 5:17-21

Are you listening to what is being said all around you? Chances are that before the end of the day, if you slow down to listen, you will "HEAR" between the lines and discover an amazing opportunity to share the love and hope of Jesus Christ.