Someone walked into my office recently.

As he began his conversation with me, he said, “I hope I’m not disturbing you. But, since I saw your door open, and it looked like all you were doing was thinking, I wondered if I could share something with you?”

Although his question was reasonable, — asking permission to ‘share something’ — his assumption may have been somewhat unreasonable. I found it interesting that the man supposed that thinking, as an exercise, wasn’t so important that it couldn’t be interrupted. However, I invited him to share his ‘something’ with me, regardless.

The man said that he had an idea he felt compelled to share with people:

He said that many people sit and have a cup of coffee with a friend,
talking about stuff, listening to that friend, sharing fellowship with that friend.
”But, “ he said, “What would happen if we had a cup of coffee with God every morning, and talked to Him, and listened to Him?” He went on to say that he had such a conversation with God, every morning, and he wanted to encourage others to do the same. That’s why he said he was ‘passing along’ that thought to me.

Well, since all I was doing was thinking before the man walked into my office, anyway, I thought I might as well share what seemed like an important thought that popped into my head.

“How do you keep track of what He says?” I asked.

He looked sort of puzzled. And, although he was standing up, he leaned toward me, cocking his head as if he hadn’t heard me just right.

“How do I keep track of what?” he said.

I continued, “Yeah. You said you talk and listen and have coffee with God every morning. I was just wondering. How do you keep track of what you hear Him saying? I mean, do you write it down, or what?”

For the next many moments, the man who interrupted my “all I was doing was thinking morning” discovered that conversations with me often include open-ended questions.

As a professional certified coach, I have been known to ask lots of questions, not so much so I’ll know more about a particular answer. My aim and desire is to come alongside others, helping them explore ideas that they may not have given much thought to.

The man said he wasn’t very good at actually keeping track of things. I asked for permission to share an observation. He granted permission, and I spoke again: “It occurs to me that if you’re having a conversation with God, it might not be a bad idea to make an effort to keep track of what you hear Him saying. I mean, who knows? It might be important.”

And then, I smiled.
And then, he smiled and said, “You’re probably right.”
And then, I said, “Probably? I wonder what made you say … ‘probably’?”

And then, he said, “Hmm … Interesting.”

“For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” (I Cor. 2:11)