Stopped-Up Ears

For the last week and a half one of my ears has been stopped up. To say the least its becoming quite annoying. It crackles and pops continually and my hearing in that ear is somewhat impaired. Oh yeah, and then there's the whole weird head voice every time I talk. Needless to say, I am ready for this thing to clear up. Also, I think my wife, Lori is getting tired my constant response of "huh" every time she speaks to me on my left side. If you've ever had a stopped up ear, I'm sure you can relate. It's as if something as been stuffed up in there but you can't get it out.

Now, there are some noises I would love to block out, like the hip-hop booming from the car next to me, certain high pitched squeals, and someone playing an electric guitar who really can't play an electric guitar. That being said, it is extremely frustrating when my ear doesn't hear with normal clarity for whatever reason.

In the same way, I get quite frustrated when I can't hear with clarity the voice of the Holy Spirit. There are multiple reasons why that happens, but just like my stopped up ear, spiritually there are those moments when I feel as though my spiritual ears are clogged. Sometimes its because there are way too many inputs screaming all around that picking out His voice is extremely tough. Sometimes its because we've never really learned to recognize his voice or that our ears have just grown dull to his voice. Whatever the reason, the fact is that navigating through life is so much easier when our ears hear his voice with clarity. When we do, we are able to walk through life confident rather than it always being a guessing game or riddled with second thoughts. Jesus said, "my sheep know my voice," so hearing and recognizing his voice is not only possible but its the way we are to live life.

I know there are those moments in my life where I've heard with clarity what He's speaking to me. At the same time there are those moments when I feel as though I need some spiritual hearing aides. It goes without saying that the former produces a life much less frustrating than the latter. Determine today to do whatever is necessary to unclog your spiritual ears so that you can hear what God is speaking to you.

2010 Is Here!

2010 is here. Can you believe it? Remember back in the late 1900s when many thought 2000 was going to be the end of it all. Now, here we are 10 years later and some have shifted their focus to 2012 as a possible end to the world. Nobody knows for sure, but the Mayan calendar ends and for some reason someone can't figure a way to add a few years to it.

Who knows, maybe those who are thinking 2012 is the end are right. The truth is there is coming a day when the world as we know it today we be radically different. There is coming a day when Christ will indeed return and set up His throne on this planet, and with every passing day we move a little closer to that day. For generations, people have declared His return is close. Naturally, because we've screamed it for so long, many now wonder the validity of such a claim. I think we've often erred in trying to set a time and date.

I don't know when God will wrap things up and tell His Son it's time to return, but I do know He will. I know that the Mayan calendar has no bearing on God's time clock no more than our calendar and the year 2000 did. The time of Jesus' birth was set before the foundation of the world as was the day of his return. World governments can't stop it, Hollywood can't script it, and prophets can't pinpoint it.

With every passing year, personally, the sense of urgency with which I live my life, steps up a notch. I become a little less attached to the things of this world and little more focussed on the eternal. As this new year gets into full swing, my prayer is that we all will become more sensitive to the kingdom of heaven and those things which are eternal and less entangled in the things of this world. Yep, Christ is coming soon. At least, we are much closer today than we have ever been.