Hola, ¿Que pasa?

First of allll, let’s make sure this iOS upgrade madness won’t affect this post. I I I I I… lol seems like we’re in the clear, at least on the computer! 🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿 (Side Note: Apple, please fix it! Thanks.)

Today we will explore a topic that’s near and dear to my heart and it’s a major key🗝

COMMUNICATION

We’ve all heard this several times: “communication is key.” In fact I spoke these same words several times over the weekend during conversations. I enjoy discussing communication; I developed a tender spot for it during my third semester in B-School. As required by the curriculum, I took a Project Management class, which surprisingly focused heavily on communication. By the end of the semester I wanted to specialize in Organizational communication (if that’s even a thing lol).

While I was brainstorming for this blog post I had a good number of titles in mind- The Dumb Speaker, the muted orator, speaking yet unheard, because honestly I feel like that a lot! Have you ever been sooooo frustrated because you felt misunderstood? You know, when you speak and feel like the order in which words rolled off your tongue makes perfect sense until they hit the ears of your listener and seem ineffective? Have you ever felt like someone heard what you spoke and got a whole different message that was WAAAAYYY off from what you meant? Yup yup, I’m sure you’ve been there done that. Let me tell you about one of my experiences.

I was on a conference call with a few coworkers from different functions. We needed to resolve a reporting problem we were having with the system within 1 week. Prior to the conference call, I sent an email detailing what I thought was the problem. Being the overachiever as I’ve been labeled, I conducted some research and mentioned to the group that I was able to narrow down the problem- some duplicate orders were mixed up with some legitimate orders- “Ok we’ll send you a file with all orders you need.” I receive an email requesting what I mentioned the issue was, and I emailed my response. DONE! *dusts hands*

What if I told you that I got variations of the same request twice after the first email.

*muffled scream!!*

If I get this question 👏🏾one 👏🏾more 👏🏾time👏🏾…Oh Ma Gahd! Oh I was HOT, LIVID ”how didn’t you understand me the first 2 times?!” And so I started to wonder “why don’t people pay attention or listen the first time I speak?” “How many times do I have to repeat myself?” I had a flash back to my Project Management class and realized that I was living a real life scenario of our case studies. What a wow!

A valuable takeaway for me from my Project Management class was this equation Communication = Speaking + Listening —more listening than speaking.

Communication is essential in every relationship; I mean it’s how creation was designed. With that said, it’s also inevitable to have one or two or several bouts of miscommunication with others. James was too hip back then,

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

James1:19NLT

Most of us have this issue where we focus so much on the speaking portion of the communication model and we completely disregard the listening portion. Then there’s the other group of us who “actually do listen,” only we listen to respond and not to understand. While we watch the other party speak we’re busy creating responses to what we think is being said. Can ya say recipe for miscommunication? When you’re the party that’s speaking, it’s SO annoying to be misunderstood or feel unheard for that matter. It’s like you almost want to smack the receiving party over the top of the head like “Why.   don’t.    you.     get.    it?!” Seem familiar?

Allow me to flip the script for a second will you? So you know how disappointed, irritated, and frustrated you feel when you’re expressing yourself, or how you feel unheard or misunderstood by the receptor of your messages? What would you think or say if I said that you’ve been that receiving party who just doesn’t get it? What if I told you that God sometimes gets frustrated, well let me say disappointed, with us when we don’t hear Him speaking to us? How many of us have actually said this “I just feel like God isn’t talking to me anymore.” Or “I just want to hear God speak!”? Yup, mmhhmm, I’ve uttered these words too. The question I have is “have you ever stopped to  listen?” Yes, like actually listen. Being quiet, still, yet alert to allow God to speak to you?

How many of us have had, and quite possibly, still have one sided prayer time? You know, when you wake up in the morning or go on with your day while making demands at Build-A-Dream. Do we actually have a dialogue or a monologue?…I’ll let that sink in.

You see, it’s incredibly amazing for us to exercise our authority to decree a thing, call things that are not as though they were. BRING DOWN THA HOUSE! But another thing we must understand as Christians on this journey is that God must also be involved in the process. No, I don’t mean saying “Lord, I’ve decided to do XYZ, and I’d like you to come with.” NAH! I’m saying God must be involved right at the beginning of the process. After all, Proverbs tells us to commit our ways unto the hands of the Lord, and He’ll TELL us which path to take. How could we hear God tell us anything if we’re constantly talking and making demands?

Be. slow. to. speak…

Even when we aren’t slow to speak when it comes to communication with God, He has a way of getting our attention especially when we’re being stubborn or deaf. Have you ever felt like you lost something you considered so precious only to find out that the loss came as a result of ignoring or disregarding God?? Well, let’s call it making the gift more significant than the Source. God is a jealous God who desires our full attention and total devotion. He is and must continue to remain at the center of our lives because only He sustains us. When He speaks and we barely listen, He always has a way of redirecting our focus away from the distraction and all to Himself. Check out Haggai 1 for an example of how this happened in the Bible.

Are you back? Great! So let’s think on this for a second. Have you found yourself almost “so close” to achieving or attaining a goal or dream only to discover that it disappears *poof* into nothingness, AS IF you hadn’t been fasting and praying about it for a while?🙄 Are you in a season right now dealing with a scenario such as this? Could it be, just maybe, that God is asking you today “can you hear me now?” Some us need to change our prayers from “God speak to me!” to “God teach me how to listen when you speak” because God is always talking. I had a similar experience about 2 weeks ago where I lost something I thought was rightfully mine, and boy was I LIVID! I kept screaming at God “why? why? why? why?” I didn’t get my response until I wept, got still and became quiet. My answer finally came to me on Friday; “I needed you to remain focused on ME.” 😩😭*Insert church fallout*

So, as your sister in the Lord, I’d like to advice you. If you’ve read this and you strongly sense that God is asking you “Can you hear me now?,” take a breather, pause, be still and listen up. Set time aside during your quiet time to literally do just that, be quiet. You’d be surprised by how clearly you hear God speak to you.

Be inspired,

∼Moyo💋∼

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I’d like to provide an opportunity to those who are yet to meet with Jesus. If you have a deep desire to know Jesus and enter into the kingdom of God you are in great company. I did at some point in my life, and it was the greatest desire that God ever met!

I invite you to pray the sinner’s prayer: Dear Jesus, I accept that I am a sinner and I confess my sins before you. I believe that you died for my sins and rose again to give me new life.  I ask that you forgive me of my sins; cleanse me with your precious blood which you shed on the cross of Calvary. I accept you as my personal Lord and Savior. Fill me up with your Holy Spirit and strengthen me. I profess that I am a new creature; old things have passed away and I have become new in You. Thank You Lord! In Jesus name, AMEN!

If you prayed the prayer, WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM FAMILY!! You are a new creature, the old has passed and the new is here! Be sure to find a bible believing, Spirit led church in your city and purchase a bible in a version that you understand. I use the  New Living Translation, Message, or the New International Version.Enjoy the journey!