There is an urgency that sits beneath everything I write.

It comes from knowing that every breath I take is a gift. That life is not guaranteed. That I will one day stand before God and give an account, not just for what I believed, but for how I lived. That reality shapes how I listen for His voice.

Listening to God is not a spiritual exercise for me. It is essential to life itself. If my life is meant to glorify God, then I cannot afford to live guided only by my instincts, my emotions, or the noise around me. I need His voice because I want my life to aim at the right target.

Scripture tells us why this matters.
“From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever.”
Romans 11:36

That verse has become a filter for my life. If everything comes from Him, exists through Him, and returns to Him, then listening is not optional. It is worship. It is alignment. It is how a life stays aimed at God’s glory rather than drifting toward self.

There have been seasons when I desperately wanted God to speak clearly and quickly. Times when the weight of decisions pressed in and I wanted certainty more than formation. Looking back, I can see that God was often less concerned with answering my questions than He was with shaping my heart. He was teaching me to listen not just for direction, but for transformation.

I have learned that God’s voice is most often recognized by its fruit. It leads toward humility, obedience, repentance, and faithfulness. It does not inflate my importance or rush me into panic. It draws me toward Christlikeness. It aligns my desires with God’s purposes rather than bending His will to mine.

Listening to God requires space. Space to read Scripture slowly. Space to pray honestly. Space to sit in silence without demanding immediate clarity. In a world that trains us to fill every moment with noise, learning to listen is an act of resistance. It is choosing attentiveness over distraction.

The reason this matters so deeply to me is simple. I want my life to matter. Not in visibility. Not in applause. But in faithfulness. I want my days to reflect the glory of God, and that only happens when my life is shaped by His voice rather than my own.

If you are learning to listen, know this. God is not playing hide and seek with you. He delights in revealing Himself to those who seek Him. But He often speaks in ways that require patience, humility, and surrender.

Life is too short. Breath is too precious. And God’s glory is too weighty for us to live inattentively.

Learning to listen is how we live a life that truly matters.

DRJBD