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.

Noise

As I sit down to write this, my neighbor is having a new roof put on his house. Of course, with that comes a constant hammering, mixed with air compressor noise and intermittent banging as things hit the ground. Noise, noise and more noise. Thankfully, the job will only take a few days and it'll all stop.

Not so, when it comes to life. The noises never stop. The voices are everywhere and they never truly shut-up. Ok, before you get worried, I'm not talking about hearing the kinds of voices that require a lengthy stay in a psychiatric ward. But, there are millions of voices out there screaming at us and if we are not careful, we'll follow all the wrong ones. You've heard them millions of times. "Buy this car," "You need these clothes," "Just do it," "You deserve it, "If it was me, I'll tell you what I'd do." Or, how about, "You were born that way," "It's only a little lie," "Everybody's doing it," "Whatever feels good, do it." Then there's voices that say things like, "You aren't good enough," "You don't measure up," "You'll never amount to anything." Then there's ones like this, "I need you to do this," "Can you buy me that," "Can you get me that," "Can you fix this,""I need your help."

Several years ago, I worked at a commercial radio station. One of my responsibilities was to produce radio commercials which sometimes required me to write the copy. It was actually one of my favorite things I got to do in radio. In writing commercials, you can simply give lots of info and facts and be done in just a couple of minutes. But the great commercials take some time to write the verbiage. They are the ones that hook you. The ones that leave you saying to yourself, "I want that! I need that! I can't live without it! And, therein is the goal of commercials. Then again, therein is the goal of all those voices. They want to control and dictate how we do life. They want us to listen to them, believe them, and act accordingly. Trouble is, we often fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

Somewhere in the middle of all that noise, is the voice of our Heavenly Father. Trust me He's continually speaking to us. His voice is the one that we need to hear most of all. Unfortunately, the noise can be so loud that we struggle hearing His voice in the midst of it all. It is vital for us though to learn how to drown out all that noise and find that still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes in order to do that, we need to take a step back and find a quiet place where all those other voices are minimized and His becomes predominate. I think the more we do that, it becomes increasingly easier to distinguish His voice in the middle of all that other chatter. Believe it or not, there were times Jesus had to step away and get alone with just him and his father in heaven.

Of course, those quiet places can be hard to find. Especially, when you have kids running around the house, the phone constantly ringing, and people constantly pulling on you for attention. Although its difficult, it is possible and extremely necessary to each and every one of us. My wife gets up early in order to spend a few moments alone. I find that the evening works better for me. Perhaps, for you it might be a few minutes during your lunch break, or while the kids are at school, or on the drive to work. Whenever it is, turn off as many inputs as you possibly can. Turn off the TV, the radio, and the computer. And yes, its ok not to answer the phone for a few minutes. You'll be surprised how easily you'll be able to hear His voice, when you eliminate some of the noise, and really listen for His voice.