Is it a skill?
Or is it an art?
Why do we have trouble with it?
Listening.
“Just LISTEN to me!”
Have you ever said this? Or do you find yourself saying this over and over? Do you feel most people you talk to listen to you or are they just kinda “looking” at you while you talk?
Is there someone you earnestly wish would listen to you, would hear you, would acknowledge what you are trying to say and communicate?
I know the feeling on both sides.
Sometimes I am the frustrated person trying to tell someone something. Sometimes I am frustrating someone trying to tell me something.
One Sunday morning Gary was up early going over his sermon. He was sitting in his recliner, and suddenly, he couldn’t hear in one ear. After trying different solutions that didn’t work, and consulting doctors, it was diagnosed Sudden Hearing Loss. Well, hum? That explains a lot doesn’t it?
Doctors tried treating his learning loss, but nothing really worked. Finally doctors found that a stroke had caused the problem. Doctors were amazed that he didn’t have other damage from the event, and we were totally thankful for that! Although his hearing has improved a little, it is still hard for him to hear especially in noisy, crowded, or places with background music. He has also had a little bit of mixing up words, but we are so grateful to God that he isn’t affected more.
However, living with someone with hearing problems in both ears, even with a hearing aid, is challenging for both of us. I have to remember to speak clearly, enunciate the beginning and ending sounds of words, and use a lower pitch voice. We need to be in the same room! He does better if he can see me and watch me speak, of course. Also, if he knows I am going to be speaking to him, it helps for me to alert him by saying his name.
But hearing and listening are different, you say. Yes, it is. Hearing is more passive while listening is active. But don’t you need to be able to hear to listen? Maybe not always.
What about spiritually? Are you spiritually deaf? Do you hear, and listen to, God? Part of hearing and listening to God is obeying!
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ,” Romans 10:17
Get in the Word! Read your Bible, come to church and listen and study God’s Word, ask God to help you! Think, meditate, and pray. Stop distractions and concentrate.
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. . . “Psalm 37:7a
God still speaks! Are you listening and obeying?
