Hearing

One of the problems with getting older is that various functions of the body don’t work as well as they used to. For several years now I’ve had to wear hearing aids, and whilst they’re of huge benefit, they do have a few drawbacks. The battery seems to run out at the most inconvenient times. You can’t wear them whilst swimming, which means I tend not to hear other swimmers approaching, and can collide with them if I’m not careful. I can’t wear my glasses either when I’m swimming, so that means I don’t see or hear them! And I recently discovered that hearing aids prevent the body from getting rid of any build-up of ear wax.

I went through a teaching course not long ago, struggling to hear what the guests were saying during interactive discussions, because my ear was blocked. I eventually got to the surgery and had the ear wax washed out, which was rather uncomfortable, but it made a big difference.

The process made me think of Jesus’ words ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear’ (Matthew 11:15). Jesus knew that people sometimes struggle with physical deafness, as we see from the healing miracles in the New Testament, but He was obviously aware that things other than blocked ears impair people’s ability to receive what He was saying. Perhaps He was referring to our lack of spiritual dynamic. It’s as if our battery has gone flat. We’ve become disconnected from the power source and we’re operating in the carnal realm only. It’s hard to hear the inner Word of the Lord when you’re not plugged into the Spirit!

Or maybe Jesus also was warning us that the enemy will try to fill our ears with all sorts of ungodly stuff that prevents the Word getting through. Matthew 13:13 show us that Jesus knows what’s going on. We want to hear, but everything seems rather muffled and distant. Perhaps we need to stop allowing the world’s words from having so much access through our TV, radio and iPhone channels.

Is it time to ask Jesus to unstop our ears, even if the cleansing process is a bit uncomfortable? Are you ready to give up whatever’s plugging your hearing so you can listen in to the Lord? It’s not ‘spiritual rocket science’ but it can make a huge difference to your walk with Jesus.

Prayer: Jesus, You know that we all need to hear You speaking to us clearly. But we confess that we’ve often allowed unhelpful spiritual wax to block out Your voice. We ask You to do that work of cleansing in us today, whatever the cost, and we will try to be more careful about what we allow into our ears, with the help of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.