When the Heart Turns Inward: Learning to Listen, Not Direct
This season marks the beginning of a deeper journey for me — an inward turn toward heart transformation as part of spiritual formation and my early steps into training for spiritual direction.
As an extrovert and the eldest in my family, I’ve spent much of my life leaning into direction-giving: planning, advising, encouraging, and sometimes steering. But now, I’m being gently led into a different posture — one of quiet presence, of holding space for others, of listening more than leading.
It’s not easy.
To pause my instinct to help by offering answers — and instead, to wait on the Holy Spirit, to ask discerning questions, and to trust that the person in front of me already carries what they need to hear from God — that’s the shift. That’s the formation. And that’s the sacred work.
Recently, I had conversations with a few people about their careers. In listening to their stories, I found clarity about my own. There and then, the Spirit nudged me gently, and Proverbs 16:20–21 came alive:
“Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.
The wise in heart are called discerning,
and gracious words promote instruction.”
— Proverbs 16:20–21 (NIV)
I could see it — the thread of how I’ve chosen, over the years, to seek God’s instructions, to trust Him even when the way was unclear. And now I see: it’s not just about my choices, it’s about His shaping.
What a revelation to recognize that He has guided my path — and will continue to do so. The path of listening. The path of grace. The path of trust.
If you, too, are in a season of quiet shifts and inward work, I wonder with you:
Do we truly want to listen to instruction — especially when it challenges our default way of being?
What might happen if we paused, listened, and trusted that God’s guidance is already unfolding?
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