You’re sitting in your living room and you hear a noise. You say to your husband or wife, did you hear that? They ask what? Because they did not. So you say Sh! Listen…now do you hear it? Depending on the ears and concentration of the other person they might now hear what you hear. Maybe you have to turn down the music or stop rustling papers, or maybe just be still for a minute.
Listening closely helps to tune in to a specific noise or conversation. It also helps us to refine Peace. When there are things or people around us making noise, it’s hard to hear that still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I need to stop what I’m doing and focus on the peace rather than the noise. My cat is good at that even though she’s been deaf now for almost a year. (She’s over 15 years old.) I look up and see her focused on something so small I don’t see it until I get up to look. It’s her way of getting my attention to come see what she’s found for which I’m thankful because it’s usually a bug of some kind.
There’s listening and then there’s listening. You know what I’m talking about. Someone says something to you and you’re preoccupied so you mumble uh-huh. But then they say, well, what do you think? You have to admit you didn’t hear a word they said. That’s listening with your ear. Then there’s giving the other person your full attention and responding. That’s listening with your ear and your mind as you engage with the other person.
When my kids were young, one in particular talked a lot and asked a lot of questions. When it went on and on and I needed to focus on something else, I’d tell him that Mommy’s ears were tired and needed to rest. Sometimes that was all that was needed for him to go off and play quietly for a while. That can apply to hearing in general. The world is constantly bombarding us with all kinds of things it thinks we need to see or hear, but tuning all that out rests our tired ears, clears our mind, and gives us opportunity to hear from the Lord.
“But whoever listens to me will live without worry and will be free from the dread of disaster.”
Proverbs 1:33, GW
When we’re preoccupied with other thoughts and things, we can’t truly hear or feel the peace God wants to give us. We need to be quiet and disengage from the distractions around us. Then the Holy Spirit will be able to speak to us and give us His perfect peace. Even when the world around us is loud and demanding, God’s perfect peace will still be in our hearts, calming our fears and steadying us in the midst of this topsy turvy world. Is your heart at peace? If not, could you be listening to Satan’s lies? We’ll talk about that in the next post. Until then, can you hear it? Listen closely.