Anyone who has had children or has ever been a child knows the phrase, “Are you listening to me?”. It’s the kind of thing that parents shout over the noise. When I was young, the noise was my stereo. Now, it is any number of devices, but the problem remains the same. Jesus had the same problem with those who followed him around. They followed him and seemed to be listening, but did they hear anything he said? If not, why not? Today, I want to look at some things that make us deaf to the voice of God and each other.

External Noise

The easiest thing to pick on when it comes to noise and distraction are the things that originate outside of ourselves. We all curse these external distractions — when they annoy us. But why are we drawn to them like a magnet if we hate them so much? Why can’t we put down our phones? Why do we immediately go to the news, books, or magazines? Why do we spend so much time online?

But most of all, why are we so afraid of silence?

Here is where we have to get honest with ourselves. Why don’t we want to hear? What are we hiding from?

Internal Noise

The noise inside is by far the most difficult noise to eliminate. More often than we are ever willing to admit, we are deafened by a combination of self-will, self-righteousness, wantonness, and sloth. How’s that for some ol’ timey words? But those words still have meaning. How often do we use external noise to drown out the sound of our conscience? Worse yet, how often are we drowning out the voice of God in the process? Whether we actively resist the voice of God or passively ignore what we hear, the result is the same. We hear, but we don’t. Our self-will does not want to hear from God or anyone else. We want what we want. We ignore the sound of anything that challenges our desires, and our hearts grow numb.

Numbness of the heart takes many forms. And, while numbness can seem harmless, at least to others, it is anything but. One surprising symptom of numbness of the heart can be seen in all those who see and hear everything as an indictment of others. Their heart has been trained to deflect all correction towards others. They hear everything but take nothing in.

Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house,

But to what shall I compare this generation?

For this kind of deafness, repentance is the only road forward. But thankfully, repentance is not difficult in this case. The cure can be downright pleasant if we take the problem seriously.

This Week

Go outside and sit. Don’t bring a book, a phone, or a friend. Sit quietly, watch a bird, or look at a tree, but don’t fall asleep. Listen; your thoughts will be very noisy at first, but if you persist, they will quiet down. Then open your bible to Psalms, Proverbs, or the Gospels and let Jesus speak to you. He loves you more than you love yourself if you can believe it, and He will heal your deaf ears — he’s really good at that.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,

Have a great week!