Before we can speak God's message, we must learn to listen. The opened ear comes before the opened mouth.

We have to have a deep, patient compassion for the fears of others and irrational mania of those who hate or condemn us.

Then Job answered:

but a good writer knows when to shut up and listen.

The question isn't who causes something to happen, but rather, whether you see the outcome with His eyes or yours. Whether or not you trust He's got it all in His hands.

Listen more than you talk.

The Father's love does not force itself on the beloved.

The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.

“But now, O Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words.

God had not turned a deaf ear. He had been waiting for her to listen, as He always did.

What is the secret, my darling, of your being everything to all of us, as if there werre only one of us, yet never seeming to be hurried, or to have too much to do? -Darney to Lucie

Love is patience. That is how Love normally behaves: it waits calmly, unhurriedly, knowing that at some point, it will show itself. Love is ready to do its work at the right moment, but it waits calmly and meekly. Love is patient. It can bear all things. It believes all things. It hopes for all things. Because Love understands.