Listening Brings Life

In this edition we give the floor to Leontine Bruin. She takes us into the Bible to learn more about how God gives life when we listen to His voice.

The Promise of Life

The voice of God carries power. When He speaks, things come into being. Just think of creation: God spoke, and it came to pass. His speaking brings forth life. That’s why He says to Israel in Isaiah: “Give ear and come to Me; listen, that you may live.” (Isaiah 55:3)

The Israelites were struggling. As exiles, they were held captive in a foreign land with a strange culture and religion. They longed deeply for home. God gives them hope in their captivity. If they will listen to Him and realign their lives with Him, a new season will begin. He will restore them and bring them back to the Promised Land. There He will make a new covenant with them: the everlasting covenant in Jesus Christ (Isaiah 55:3).

The promise that God gives life when we listen to Him also applies to us through Jesus. He wants to set us free and restore us from situations in which we feel trapped—whether in our lives or even in our own hearts. He does this by drawing us back to Himself.

That is why God says: “Give ear and come to Me; listen, that you may live.” To come near Him and lend Him your ear means to draw very close and open your heart to receive what He wants to share with you. Think of John, the beloved disciple, who leaned against Jesus’ chest. He could hardly have been closer—just so he might hear the heart of Jesus.

The Effect of God’s Words

God’s speaking produces something within us when we listen. Later in Isaiah 55, God compares His word to rain that falls from heaven. It soaks and nourishes the earth so that edible plants grow. Then He says: “So is My word that goes out from My mouth: it will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10–11)

Listening, then, means receiving God’s words into your heart and allowing them to take effect there. That can feel vulnerable, because your heart is the core of who you are. It is where your deepest motives and needs dwell. It is where your relationships form and where you make your choices. How many questions, longings, or struggles do we carry in our hearts? May God’s words penetrate so deeply that they truly renew our hearts and lives?

It is so encouraging that the power to bring forth life lies in God’s speaking itself. It is not mainly our effort but our receptivity that allows God to work out His purposes in our hearts and lives. Listening is, in fact, a form of surrender to the voice of God.

Bearing Fruit

Mary, the mother of Jesus, shows us how this works. When an angel brings her God’s words—that she will conceive and bear the Son of God—she replies: “May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38). Later we read: “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19). God’s words awakened in her the faith needed to be open to His work in her life. Her way of listening and surrendering to God’s words became a blessing for all humanity.

What an impact God’s speaking can have in your life when you allow His words to make your heart fertile. Then new life begins to grow within you. Your life will bear fruit, because through your life God’s word is being fulfilled. And through your life, who Jesus is becomes visible.

Healing and Restoration

God’s words not only give life, but they also bring healing and restoration. Proverbs offers a striking wisdom about this: listening with your heart to God’s words is like medicine that strengthens your body (Proverbs 4:20–23).

We remember the people of Israel in exile. They needed restoration. God wanted to bring them home to a peaceful life in the Promised Land. The same is true for us. God speaks to bring us home to Himself and give us a life in His peace. He brings restoration by guiding our choices, by words of comfort, or by insight into His purposes. He also invites you:

“Give ear and come to Me; listen, that you may live.”