Learning to Understand

  “Then He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”

— Luke 24:45 (NKJV)

If being understood brings such peace, then learning to understand others must be one of the most loving things we can do.

When I think about it, understanding doesn’t begin with knowledge. It begins with presence — with choosing to stay long enough to see beyond words. I’ve noticed this in counselling, in marriage, even in conversation with friends: real understanding rarely happens quickly. It grows through quiet attentiveness, through noticing what isn’t being said as much as what is.

I  think about how the Lord understands me. He listens without interruption, discerns without condemning, and waits until I’m ready to hear truth. That is the kind of understanding that changes people. It isn’t agreement or correction, but the patient holding of another person’s heart until fear begins to settle.

Sometimes I see glimpses of that in ordinary life. With Laddie, it’s in the stillness — a look, a small movement, a shared peace that says, “I’m with you.” With Sunshine, it’s in the patience of waiting for her to return, learning her patterns rather than trying to control them. In both, understanding comes not through demand but through consistency.

Perhaps understanding others begins when we stop needing them to be like us. When we make room for difference and allow space for another’s way of seeing. It is, in its truest form, an act of grace.

In the boat with Jesus, the disciples were still learning to understand Him. They knew His power but not yet His heart. Even after the storm was calmed, they asked, “Who can this be?” Understanding took time — but He stayed with them, teaching by presence more than by explanation.

So I’m realising that understanding others is less about insight and more about imitation — learning from the One who understands perfectly. When I slow down enough to listen, when I allow the Spirit to shape my reactions rather than my pride, I catch a glimpse of how He sees.

And when that happens, the boat feels calmer again.

“Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”

— 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NKJV)