Stop and Listen

If hands could heal, ears could listen. We have got eye lids to close up when we don't want to see something and lips to keep our mouth shut when we don't want to say anything. We can make our ears to perk up when evesdropping others conversation, but we cannot make our earlobes to close up when we aren't interested in hearing something. Doesn't that say something to us? Yes, it does say that our ears are meant to be kept open at all times.

Even with sight of 20/20 we can see only upto a limited distance. But our hearing can detect long distant signals. If not for the hearing ability, most of the preyed animals would end up as snacks in the pedators mouth without much problem. Ears get alerted at the slight sound of oncoming danger as well as to enjoy the cheerful music that comes from the nature around- the song of a nightingale, the lashing of waves against the shore, the crackling fire, the pitter patter of rain on the rooftop .

In the Gospel of Mathew, we  heard Jesus say, "He has ears to hear, let him hear!"." Does that mean we do not hear even when our ears are physically kept wide open at all times. It does sound as if we don't hear even when we've the ability to hear. We tend to become selective in our hearing. We may hear, but choose not to listen at times. Other times our ears are wide open to hear what we're supposed not to hear-evesdropping.

When my daughters were babies, my ears were so attuned to their every whimper and moves that I didn't need to use a babymonitor to survey their movements. A slight whimper of them in their sleep made me to jump out of the bed at nights and be at their crib's side wide eyed. However when they were in their teen years, my ears must have somehow got dulled in the hurry-burry of life that they had to sometimes wake me up shouting, " Mom, you don't listen when we say something to you" Probably, I must have got into the habit of selective hearing by then.
It's sad, but true, we likewise get into the habit of selective hearing to God's voice too. No wonder, Jesus said, "Those who have ears to hear, let them hear."

 The world around us swirls with all kinds of voices. Some are soft and soothing to hear while others are loud and jarring to make us close our ears. We may hear these noises if they are loud enough to draw our attention. Hearing doesn't equal listening. I can passby a street musician playing a violin, still not have ears to listen to his music. Or I can spend a whole hour seated on the church pew hearing the paster preach, yet hadn't listened to a single thing he had said. In other words, I haven't got the hears to hear the music on the street or the pastor's sermon.

 Under God's orchestration, sound of music is playing all around us to bring us joy; the happy tweet of little birds flying around, thrashing of rolling waves and rushing waterfalls, spitting and spurting of burning wood, crying of a baby, thumping of little feet, clapping of tree branches and thundering in the sky.

Because life can become dull and mundane at times and hasty and nasty other times. To bounce and balance emotions, God the Creator has made the nature to entertain us at every turn. Sadly, we've either become too busy to listen, or the drum of the world has drowned the sweet sound of it and deafened our ears to the lively melody of God's music.

One of my favorite scripture verse  Isaiah 50:4-5 reads as follows:
" The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue
   to know the word that sustains the weary
He wakens me morning by morning
wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears
and I have not been rebellious.
I have not drawn back."

Oh, what a beautiful verse that describes how God tries to wake him  up morning by morning and make his ears perk up to listen like one being taught. O what a blessing that could be, if our ears get attuned to listen to God's Word as one being taught. For us to come to that state like Isaiah, we need to slow down from our hectic strides, take time to be still before the Lord to listen to what He says.

We all want God to listen to our pleas and petitions. Isn't it too sad that we want our voice to be heard in heaven, but have no time to listen to God's voice? Little do we realize, it's not God, but we loses by not having time to spend with God. Our busyness take us nowhere except to stress, ill health and medications. On the other hand, having ears to hear God's voice make us live a fulfilled life as God intends us to live. Instead of dancing to the drum of the world, we'd start dancing to God's music.***