A couple of days ago I was working inside while my wife was working in the garden. I recognized her voice and then thought I heard a second voice. I wondered who was visiting but it turned out my wife was talking to herself. I guess we do that when we think no one is listening.
I was surprised that I mistook her voice for that of someone else. We have been married for over forty years and I can pick out her voice, even her cough, in a crowded store. It caused me to give some thought on the difficulties we have hearing the voice of God. Sometimes He must feel like He just talking to himself.
Of course, we have to know the voice. As children of God know that God has something to say to us. We do need some practice to recognize that voice in the crowd of noises that fill our lives.
My wife bought me a great set of ear buds for Christmas. These are clearly the nicest I have ever seen. I have seen plenty. Some folks say that I always have a pair stuck in my ears. Now “always” is a pretty strong word, but I have to admit that I “often” have a pair stuck in my ears. My wife is often frustrated that in the middle of one of her speeches I will pull out the buds and say, “What?” If we are going to hear God, or anyone else for that matter, we are going to have to eliminate some distractions, at least sometimes.
Perhaps the greatest problem we have with hearing God is selective hearing. My wife insists that I have selective hearing. I can hear: “Supper is ready.” or “The game is on.” I have more trouble with “Please put out the garbage” or discussions about plants. Some of the things God is trying to tell us we don’t hear, because we don’t want to hear. It’s the same reason we have favorite bible verses and other verses to which we respond: “Is that in the bible?”
My wife really doesn’t like those GPS devices. You know the ones that say things like: “In a quarter-mile, turn right onto Johnston Street.” I think there are two reasons. (1) No woman likes her man taking directions from another woman. (2) No woman believes a man ever takes directions from anyone.
If we are going to have any success in life, if we are going to end up where we really want to go, we really need to perfect our listening skills. Success requires listening to God, the GPS, and, yes, sometimes to our beloved wives.
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