“Have you ever been around someone who can’t hear very well?” Stan asked me one morning while we waited for Ricky to take our breakfast order.”
“What’d you say?” I asked.
Stan began to repeat himself, saw my smile, realized I was kidding him, laughed, and said, “That was a good one! But I ask again, have you been around anyone like that?”
“I sure have,” I replied. “My dad had a hearing loss from working around noisy equipment without any ear protection. Why do you ask?”
Stan didn’t answer my question, but asked, “Did you dad have hearing aids?”
“He did not,” I replied. “He refused to get hearing aids saying that he didn’t need them, but we all knew he needed them big time.”
“Did that cause problems for him?” Stan asked.
“Not so much for him,” I replied, “but lots of problems for those of us who had to live around him, especially my mom who was always trying to get him to get some hearing aids so he could hear what she was saying to him.”
“That’s kind of like what Jesus said to a bunch of people during His earthly ministry, as well as what God seems to say all the time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” Stan replied, “in the first instance there are several places when Jesus told people that if they had ears they were to use them to hear what He had to say. Seems to me that He was talking not just about physical ears, but about the spiritual hearing aid as well.”
“The spiritual hearing aid? What’s that?”
“The Holy Spirit,” Stan replied. “He’s called the ‘Helper,’ and I can say as a fact that I know all too well that if I don’t surrender to His help, I miss what God has to say to me. I don’t hear or I don’t understand. Often both!”
“So,” I said, “if I have ears, which I do, I’m to hear what God has to say. And if I can’t hear or understand what He’s saying, I’m to get the help I need through the Holy Spirit. Is that it?”
“That’s it,” Stan replied. “If you can’t hear, get the help you need!”
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Bible verses to consider:
He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Luke 14:35, Matthew 11:15, and Mark 4:9.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2:7.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you. John 14:16-17.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for all you have for me to hear about your free and gracious provision of life eternally in your presence. Thank you for those who helped me to hear what you have for me so I could accept it. I confess that too often I don’t hear what you say to me. As well, too often I may hear but I don’t listen, I don’t understand, and I don’t obey. Please forgive the foolishness of that. Help me follow every step of your lead so I hear all you have for me by listening to your voice through your Holy Spirit. Thank you that I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Have you heard what God has for you? If no, is it because no one has told you, or is it because you have not listened and accepted His free and gracious provision? If no one has told you, do you know how to find out? If you have heard about God’s provision, but have not accepted it, what’s standing in the way? If you are a Christian with the assurance of salvation and redemption, how are you doing in hearing all that God has for you while you remain on this side of eternity? If you sense the need for change in any of this, how is that change going to happen? Is that what you want? Why or why not?
Waiting for the Train 