Do You Hear Me Now?

 

“There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing.“

G. K. Chesterton

 

“My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”

Proverbs 2:1-5

Anybody else still remember the cell phone commercial where the guy keeps saying, “Can you hear me now?” While not being able to hear someone is annoying, not being able to understand can be downright dangerous, especially if someone is trying to warn us about something. We may not be able to control our cell phone connection, but we can control how well we listen, to God and to each other.

Listen with your Heart

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Have you ever sung a song for years only to find out you had gotten the lyrics wrong? When I was little, I sang a lot of songs by ear because I didn’t know how to read. The problem is that sometimes you “hear” the words wrong. One song I thought said “take me desting away.” I imagined it was like riding off on a horse into the sunset, like old westerns. “When I was old enough to read the words, I realized it was “take death’s sting away.” My image wasn’t totally off, but the lyrics went much deeper than my imagery.

When I took piano classes in college, my instructor talked about sight reading versus playing by ear. In order to play the music correctly, as the composer intended, we have to read the notes because our ear sometimes wants to hear something that isn’t there, something more pleasing to us as an individual. We practice the notes until we know them “by heart.” Then, we can truly play the music as it was intended because we learned the notes but played it with our hearts.

Listen with your Mind

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

James 1:22

Have you ever sung a song for years because you liked the tune but suddenly realized the lyrics were not something you should be singing? How many times have you heard a lecture, or even a sermon, but could not recall what it was about by the time you got home? Critical listening requires our mind to be engaged with the process.

Reading the Bible in our quiet time or listening to a sermon does us no good unless we are actually receiving what is being sent. If we hear words, but do nothing with them, then they are wasted.

Listen with your Soul

“He restoreth my soul”

Psalm 23:3a

Have you ever listened to a song you have sung all of your life and suddenly connect with it in a way you never had before? The song Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus got stuck in my head a while back. While I was singing, the phrase “Just to know thus saith the Lord” jumped out at me. For the first time, I realized the writer was referring to what God had said in His Word. It was good to know what God had said, know what God had promised, because He is faithful to do what He has said.

The choir special that Sunday was I Won’t Have to Worry Anymore and a phrase in the song was “my feet seem so sore.” My feet literally hurt that day from work the day before, but also the feet of my soul were sore and tired. The words connected with me on a personal, spiritual level.

Listening over Hearing

Listening is active; hearing is passive. When God speaks, we need to be actively listening and applying His Word to our lives. But, the same thing is true in our daily lives here on earth. We need to pay attention to what we are hearing and decide if we need to change some habits in order to protect our hearts. Sometimes it’s best to change the channel or hit the off button.

We also need to apply it to our relationships. It’s so easy to get caught up in thinking about how we will respond instead of just listening to what the person has to say. When we actively listen in a conversation, we can discern how to better help the other person. Sometimes being silent and attentive is the greatest gift we can give. It’s not easy, but I want to try and be a better listener because we need to treat others the way we want to be treated… and we all want someone to listen to us.

Related Posts:

Whose Report Are You Listening To?

Who do you listen to?

The Shepherd’s Voice