Last evening, after it stopped raining, my wife said, “Listen, the peepers are singing.”
My reply? “I can’t hear them. I don’t have my hearing aids in.”
Having hearing loss can be a real pain. I miss out on so much. Not just the peepers, but the song of birds, the gurgling of a stream, a friend’s soft voice. But what a difference when I put my hearing aids in! Suddenly the world becomes a very noisy place (usually in a good way)!
With my hearing aids in I can hear bees buzzing in the flower bed outside our window and birds singing in the trees. Music becomes richer and the volume can be turned down on the TV. Most importantly, I can hear when Ana calls, which makes her happy and, as the saying goes, “Happy wife, happy life!”
Sometimes I wish they made hearing aids tuned to the voice of God. I want to follow Him with all my heart and to do His will, but it’s hard when He seems so silent. I pray and all I hear is crickets (if I have my hearing aids in, that is). I sit and meditate, but the universe remains quiet.
I realize the problem is not with Him, but with me. I’m spiritually deaf. Thankfully, He understands my disability and has provided a solution. It’s called The Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV tells us, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” And Romans 10:17 NKJV says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
In the pages of Scripture God speaks, sometimes in thunder, but more often in a loving, still small voice. He tells me His hopes and dreams for me, His plans for the future, and, most importantly, His deep love for me – His deaf, wayward child.
The Bible is God’s answer to our spiritual deafness. However, just as my hearing aids do me no good unless I turn them on, so the Bible will do you no good if it sits on the shelf.
If you want to hear God speak, open its pages and “Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.” Prov. 2:2. Let your prayer be, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:9 NLT.
If you do this every day, I promise this – you WILL hear God speak. “Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go, whether to the right or to the left.’” Isaiah 30:21 NLT. You’ll discover He’s been talking to you all along. You just needed a little help to hear!
God bless, have a great day, and “Hear the word of the Lord.”