Do you have someone that you enjoy talking to about anything and everything? Someone with whom you can be totally honest and don’t have to fear judgment or advice that makes you wonder why you shared with them in the first place?

I talk to my husband a lot, but these days I can be pretty sure that he only hears about 50% of what I say and responds accordingly. He doesn’t want to admit that he has a hearing deficit, so instead, he generally responds to what he thought he heard. Sometimes, his responses are humorous and other times they upset me because they are so off topic that I knew he couldn’t hear and didn’t tell me until I had finished talking.

But there is someone in my life who always listens, always hears, and gives the best advice ever.

I can pour out my heart to God at all times of the day or night and He is always ready to listen. He doesn’t half listen as he is actually tuned into the latest from BBC News. Nor does he tell me to “wait a minute” while He finishes what He is doing. He listens each and every time as soon as I call on His name.

I can vent to God and tell Him how frustrated I am. He listens and generally responds with a scripture to help me get out of my funk and back on the road to hope. I can tell God about my dreams and things that I want to do before I die. He is attentive and listens. Again, the Holy Spirit gently reminds me of scripture verses to encourage me, usually that my life isn’t over yet so it’s still okay to have dreams. I cry to God when I am hurting, raise my voice to Him over the pain I am feeling and speak softly to Him when I feel so totally unworthy to even come into His presence. I walk away from my sessions with God with newfound energy and hope that He is handling everything in His time and in His way so I can just let it go. He is my totally trustworthy refuge, never too busy, never hard of hearing and not once has He given me a ridiculous response that tells me that He didn’t hear me or had tuned me out.

In defense of my husband, he has been a good companion for over fifty years and we have been through a lot together. I still talk to him when the TV is silenced and I am willing to speak more loudly for long enough to have a real conversation. Growing old together has its challenges. I have health issues and Harry has hearing and mobility problems, too. It’s just that I know He is a man who has weaknesses, just as I do, and he won’t always meet my need as a good listener. I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t want to listen but because physically it is frustrating for him to see my mouth moving and have no idea what I just said. That is why God is my first resource and if God tells me to take time to talk to Harry about things, I do.

Who is your listener? I hope you have God as your trustworthy refuge who won’t judge or ridicule but who will always encourage and offer sound, scriptural advice. He wrote the Book and He is very good and sharing the right verses at the right time to the right person.