Good morning, my brothers! Many of us are waiting for God to speak. But what if He already has, and the real issue is whether we’re willing to listen and obey? Let’s go! 4-min, 53-sec read.

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Listen to the audio version here:

Dean put his hand on my arm after church and asked me what I thought I was doing.

This was the fourth year of what I'd started calling my “deployment.” My family lived in Wilmington, North Carolina. I was running our company in Grove City, Pennsylvania, an eleven-hour drive north, and I'd been up there two and three weeks at a stretch ever since the bottom fell out of the American economy in late 2008, and through the fire of 2010.

One year. That's what my wife and I had agreed to.

It was year four.

Dean said, “You need to come back home to your family. You need to do whatever it takes to get home.”

I nodded. I thanked him. I told him he was right, and for about a minute I think I meant it.

Then I drove back to Pennsylvania and did nothing.

He said it again a few months later, and once more after that. Same words, more or less. Always kind. Always after church. Always with his hand on my arm like he was trying to hold me still long enough for it to sink in.

I heard him every time.

It went in one ear and out the other because I was focused on rescuing the company, and I wasn't going to be the man who walked away. Instead, I caused great pain for my family.

God had been talking to me for two years in Dean's voice, and I kept mistaking it for Dean.

You've got a Dean. Most of us do. The man willing to speak the uncomfortable truth that the Lord knows you need to hear…and you’ve ignored it.

His name probably came to you a few lines ago.

Risk? What Risk?

Years earlier, I'd started buying houses as a side hustle with three friends. Easy credit, a rising market, and me, a man who was sure of himself. Knecht Capital, Inc.

My last name front and center. That should have been a red flag.

In 2006, around my dining room table, my friend and advisor, Randy, asked me two questions I've never forgotten.

“How are you mitigating your risk? Is your downside protected?”

I said, “Risk? What risk?” Wink, wink. Then 2008 came.

My tenants couldn't pay rent, and foreclosure notices started showing up. My mother called me crying because she'd opened the hometown paper and found one printed there for everyone to read.

Hearing, But Not Listening

Both times a man who loved me told me the truth, and I didn't argue with him. I was never defensive about counsel. I was agreeable.

I just never listened to it.

Here's what my prayer life looked like around those big decisions: I'd bring the Father a decision I'd already made.

“Here's what I'm going to do, Father. Please bless it.”

I called that praying.

It was a man filing paperwork, looking for a rubber stamp. Sound familiar?

The Man Who's Already Decided

Look at what that verse doesn't say.

It doesn't say the fool is stupid or his plan is obviously bad.

It says his way seems right to him.

That's the problem.

A man who knows he could be wrong will go find help. A man who's already convinced he's right has no reason to ask.

Misplaced self-confidence can feel exactly like wisdom. That's why I could be in church, agree with Dean, and drive north that same afternoon.

And notice that the wise man isn't described as smarter, more gifted, or more experienced.

He's described by one behavior: He listens.

Sometimes we don't wait for God to speak. We're waiting for Him to say something different.

A Small Thing

I've written a book, and about a month ago I had to settle on a cover.

I had a favorite. I'd looked at it long enough to be certain, which you'll recognize by now as one of my weak spots.

Instead of deciding in a vacuum, I sent the options to the 111 men who've been advising me and praying with me through this and asked them to pick.

They didn't choose the one I liked. It wasn't close. And we went with their decision.

Twenty years ago, I might have asked for input, thanked everybody warmly, and then done what I'd already decided.

I know that about myself now, which is a step in the right direction.

I know that a man surrendering his preference about a book jacket isn't a sacrifice. Set it beside a marriage, and it pales in comparison.

But that's why it's worth sharing.

We usually don't discover whether we've changed on the biggest decisions. We discover it in the small ones, when almost nothing is at stake.

And, by the way, I didn't hand over everything.

There was a second question in that vote, about the subtitle, and the vote came back close. I went with the one I wanted, which didn’t get the most votes.

I still think I was right. I also noticed how fast the old reflex reached for the wheel. UGGHH.

I’m growing. Not arrived.

The Voice You Weren't Listening For

The Father speaks authoritatively through His Word, leads us by His Spirit, and often uses the wise counsel of people who love Him and love us.

A friend after church doesn't sound like heaven. It sounds like a guy you've known for years who's a little worried about you.

Most of us aren't waiting on a word from God about the decision we're weighing.

We already got it.

It came in a kitchen, or a truck, or a hallway. From a wife who said it once and never brought it up again. From a friend who asked a question you changed the subject on.

You don't need a new word. You may need to revisit the one you've already been given.

That's what the wise man in that proverb does. He listens.

Reflection

Who has already told you truth you didn’t want to hear, and what did you do with it?

Not the person you disagreed with.

The one you agreed with and then ignored.

Prayer

Father, I've brought You many decisions that were already made. Forgive me.

Make me a man who asks before he moves, and give me the humility to hear wise counsel when You place it in front of me.

I'm not there yet. Keep working. Your will, not mine.

Action

Call the man. This week.

Tell him you heard him the first time, that you didn't listen, and ask him to speak truth to you again.

And this time, let’s listen.

-Will

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