I'm An Introvert

Folks, I have to tell you that you should feel sorry for my wife. I know, I know, you’re saying, “Huh! Not telling us anything we didn’t already know. We do feel sorry for her!” Well, I’d just say, That’s good because she married an introvert. She didn’t really know what she was getting into when she married me. But early on she in our marriage, she probably knew she was in for it. She would ask a question and I would not immediately respond. Thinking my hearing might be bad, she’d repeat the question and then, growing impatient, she might even move on to another question.

Now she wasn’t asking me to explain relativity or describe rocket science. It was usually a simple question. I am sitting at the table maybe watching tv. She has set food before me. She opens the refrigerator door and asks, "What would you like to drink?" She expects an immediate, one-word answer. Any normal person could process the information requested and immediately reply. “Tea, please.” But what she gets is silence and a puzzled expression.What she did not know at first was that, as an introvert, I do not automatically move her question to the front of the line. I am preoccupied with another important train of thought, and her question has not even registered, to say nothing of checking in and phoning home. As an introvert, an inner conversation is already going on inside of me, and outsiders are put on hold. The problem is that I am not concentrated on her and what she is saying.

That’s often the way we are with God. We are so self-concerned that we don’t listen. He’s speaking and He desires a relationship with us, but His still small voice never makes it to the front of the line. We are often focused on everything but Him.