“Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3: 9-12 NASB)
All the “101” level courses were supposed to be easy, right? Well, in some cases they were and in others they were not. Foreign language, four semesters of German was the toughest for me. I read a whole book, written in that particular foreign language. I thought I understood what was being communicated, but obviously I was oh so very, very wrong! Here is an example. On a big test, racing through the exam, I wrote my answers in perfect German and was the first one to finish the test and when I left the classroom I was bulging with pride. My pride should have been panic because I learned at the next class that I had failed. Bottom line, my translation skills let me down.
But let us leave the classrooms of academia and depart from world of higher education. Let us enter in the world of our houses. Translating skills must be mastered in the home. We all should be mastering Translating 101 by now.
Surely you, like me, have experienced as a teenager, a sibling, or as a spouse, a time where the person speaking to you approached you in a nice way and told you something kindly or asked you something to bring about a certain outcome. If you were astute and paying attention you would have known exactly what you what was being said. I mean you would have understood the real meaning behind the initial statement or question. Let me give you examples, a quick Translating 101 course. It will erase the need to say, “Why didn’t you say so, if that is what you meant?” You do know that was not a reaction that would let peace continue to reign, don’t you?
Let’s get to 101. When a parent says, after a hazardous tour through your room, “Are you keeping up with your housekeeping?”, you need to translate that term to “You need to get busy cleaning your room.” Perhaps using advanced translating skill, you correct get the message from the sender, “Clean your room TODAY!” Now that’s translating. When your spouse says, “We are almost out of coffee and creamer?”, use your translating skills and hear the real message, “You need to go to the store SOON!” When your sibling says, “That microwave popcorn you just popped sure smells good,” your brother or sister is really saying, “Can I have some?” When your toddler says, “I love you,” they really are asking you, “Do you love me?” Translating skills in your own language are critical to continually developing and maintaining a great relationship with the people under your roof and this quick Translating 101 course will help eliminate estrangement, if for even one a few hours or days.
Well, there are three lessons today that God provides us with to help us in our communications in our house and elsewhere. First, it is always good to ask in a quiet tone to keep things from elevating and if necessary, continue as God did in Genesis 3 to ask some follow up questions to get to the point. Good communication takes time. Second, on the other side of the communication equation, listen carefully and apply your Translating 101 skills. Adam failed at that initially. The third lesson, even as you see there were consequences for Adam and Eve, they still benefitted from the wonderfulness of God. He is great in compassion and mercy.
Now do not start anything by saying at the beginning of a conversation, “This calls for my Translating 101 skills.” And do not do what I have been known to do in a joking manner, “What you are saying is…” But then again, I’m just checking for understanding.
One last note: Sometimes we try to hide our Translating 101 skills. We know what’s up! When the Lord God called to the man (Adam) and said to Him, “Where are you?”, Adam should have translated that question right away to mean, “You went off and did exactly what I said not to do, didn’t you?” I Hope this was a little helpful on a Friday morning. Be blessed!
“He who has an ear, let him hear.” (Revelation 3: 12a ESV)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King