Pastor David Shelley shares a personal story that illustrates well the fact that though we were created to hear the words of God and to respond to them, we often are preoccupied. He writes:

My amazingly faithful wife, Lorie, married an introvert. She did not know all that she was getting into, but she experienced something strange early on in our marriage. Often she would ask a question, and she would not get an immediate response. This had to be awkward for her, and she shows, to this day, extraordinary patience with me.

The question might be simple. I am sitting at the table and reading. She has set food before me. She opens the refrigerator door and asks, "What would you like to drink?" She expects an immediate, one-word answer, such as "tea." What she gets is silence and a puzzled expression.

What she did not know at first was that, as an introvert, I do not automatically move her question to the front of the line. I am preoccupied with another important train of thought, and her question has not even registered, to say nothing of checking in and phoning home.

As an introvert, an inner conversation is already going on inside of me, and the giver of sustenance is put on hold. She may give me a drink of her own choice, or she may give me nothing, because I am not responsive to her words.

Like my wife, God speaks, but we are too preoccupied with ourselves to respond. Are we aware that the One giving us sustenance at this very moment has spoken? The Source of every good gives us life and everything necessary to live it in relation with him. He speaks that we might be sustained and refreshed in our knowledge of him. The most offensive thing we can do is refuse to enter the conversation.