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Do You Hear What I Hear?

I was sitting in Starbucks this morning when I got a call from the police saying I had been in an accident by the Citadel Theatre earlier that morning. Shocked, I went down to the police station because they wanted to look at my car and see if there was any damage. Of course there wasn’t… but they still had to look.

I guess there was an accident in an intersection that I passed through when I dropped Tracey off at work that morning. It was between a person running an amber (I made a left just before they went through) and the vehicle turning left behind me. I heard a horn as I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a vehicle go through the intersection. There was a “witness” who saw my plate and thought it was me who had made contact with the vehicle running the amber. Sometimes we don’t see things as clearly as we think…

We’ve all heard of mirages, A mirage is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. In other words, we think we see something that isn’t actually there. I think that is true with all our senses.

But it isn’t just seeing that can sometimes mislead us. Many people, and seeming most common, married couples, have what we often refer to as “selective hearing.” It is when we sometimes tune out someone who may be talking to us.

I started thinking about how we can be like that with God. There is a popular Christmas carol called, “Do you hear what I hear?” I have experienced that song many times in my life. This is especially true regarding hearing from God. I have seen and experienced many times where separate people hear “conflicting” things from God, with each person claiming to be right.

There is a story in the Bible that illustrates that. In 1 Samuel 3:4-9, we read this: “Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.”

Eli didn’t recognize God’s voice but Samuel did. Although Eli was a priest, he didn’t recognize God’s voice until later. Many Christians today claim God doesn’t speak today. I disagree with that and the primary reason why I do is I believe many of us are like Eli… we know about God but aren’t really in tune with His voice. We often expect God to speak us in a specific way, kind of like finding your favourite radio station but we have our radios set at the wrong frequency.

For Christians, if we want to be “sure” of God’s voice, we should spend time in His Word. I don’t say this to deny that God speaks to us because He does but too often Christians refuse to act because they haven’t been “given” audible or “clear” instructions of what to do.

In the Bible, we have a myriad of commands and instructions for Christians to follow. But like Eli, I think sometimes we can have selective hearing and seeing which can also transfer to what we read. We see or read from the Bible what we want and ignore what we don’t want to hear or see.

The truth is this: God is here and He wants us to hear His voice. There are a lot of distractions coming from our world and sometimes it is hard to discern what God is saying. But don’t use that as an excuse to not do anything.

So I would encourage each of us, especially in this Christmas season, to take time and listen for God’s voice. Whether it is through prayer or His Word. Know that He is near and speaking… we just need to be listening.

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