Wayyy back in my high school days, we were required to take Spanish. I have to admit being bilingual was apparently not my thing, but this I do remember; whenever our class was getting too loud for our teacher, she would yell out, “Escutcheon por favor! Escuchen!” Translated – listen please. Listen. It seems to be my one big takeaway from two years of Spanish. I even used that line on my own children when they were young.
Many people think God no longer speaks to people – I think people no longer listen to God. The obvious disconnect is that we just don’t “escuchen” as we should. Matthew 13:15 tells us, “The people’s hearts have become dull, their ears can barely hear…” One translation even says, “Their ears are clogged.” It seems that would be on our end – certainly not God’s!
There’s a story told of Franklin Roosevelt, who often had to endure long receiving lines during his time in the White House. He often complained that no one really paid any attention to what he said. One day, during one such reception line, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hands, he murmured, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The guests responded with phrases like, “Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir.” It wasn’t until the very end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Unfazed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, “I’m sure she had it coming.” Ahh – poor Nana!
There is good news though – there’s hope for us semi-deaf persons. If we would just take time to spend with God meditating on His word, studying His word, and praying (communicating) with Him, we can develop a “feel” for the voice of God. He speaks in so many ways – best not to put Him in a box – we can actually learn to listen. It’s not rocket science. Just take the time as you would with any other relationship. As Will Rogers once said, “Never miss a good chance to shut up.” Just escuchen!
It really all goes back to choice. Ugh – the ball always seems to end up back in our court for these important issues. It reminds me of the story of a pastors son who went off to his first junior high camp – let’s call him John. In the middle of the week, John got into a fight with another kid., His fault. His pastor dad drove up to the camp to intervene, but John was unrepentant, wanted to leave camp, gathered all his stuff, and shoved it all into the car.
His father took him for a walk – “John,” he asked, “Is there any voice inside telling you what you should do?” “Yes,” he nodded. “What’s the voice telling you?” Dad asked. “That I should stay and work it out!” he said. Dad responded, “Can you identify that voice?” “Yes,” he said immediately. “It’s God” “John,” the dad said, “do you realize what just happened? You heard God’s voice. He spoke to you from within your soul.” But here was John’s response: “Well, I’m still not doing what God said.”
But – smart dad that he was – here’s what he told his son: “If you reject the voice of God coming from deep within and chose to disobey His guidance, your heart will become hardened, and your ears will eventually become dull to His voice. But if you treasure God’s voice and respond with obedience, then your heart will be open, and your ears will always be able to hear the whisper of God into your soul.” Thankfully, John chose to stay on in camp. Hallelujah! Tough decision, I’m sure, for such a disgruntled, young soul.
Mark Batterson once gave this extremely insightful quote: “We usually hear what we want to hear and turn a deaf ear to everything else. But if we don’t listen to everything God has to say, we eventually won’t hear anything He has to say. And we probably need to hear most what we want to hear least.” Wow! That speaks volumes. Someone once remarked, “Is God’s voice the loudest in your life? That’s the question. If the answer is no, that’s the problem.” Escuchen por favor! Just escuchen!
Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you can contact them at DPCitychurch.org.
Susan Beckett | The Dwelling Place City Church
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