September 21st – The Trained Ear

Taking It to Work:

Do you have a trained ear?

When one of my boys was younger, I was waiting for a school concert to start where he played the bari-sax. As I sat listening to the kids warm-up, which sounded more like a traffic jam than a warm-up, I was amazed when the band teacher silenced the group, and declared that one of the instruments was slightly out of tune. After the offending instrument was corrected, the chaos of the warm-up continued.

I was amazed. There must have been thirty-five different instruments playing all at the same time, when she heard so clearly and confidently the outlier. How in the world could her ear pick it out in all that noise? I’ll never know.

Well, if you haven’t noticed, most of us have very noisy lives. Our jobs, meetings, phones, TV, and personal trials and temptations are a relentless traffic jam of noise that fills most of our waking hours. Our responsibilities at home and work fill our thoughts the instant we wake up, then run with us throughout the day. The fact that you’re taking time right now to silence it all, and hear God’s direction, makes you a rare commodity, even among our Christian peers. For most, unfortunately, the noise of life is too loud to even try to listen.

What happens when we don’t silence the world to hear His direction? Well, we already know. We basically go it alone. We call our own shots, rely on our own wisdom, and execute our own schedule. Most days go alright, so we don’t really feel the cost of not hearing the Lord’s voice. It’s a paradox of living as blessed Christians. We tend only to seek God in times of pressure and turmoil, but when things are good, we drift away.

Today the Holy Spirit reminds us that even among the demanding noise of life, we should be trying to seek and hear His voice. Our lives will likely never really quiet down, so when times are good and relatively peaceful, we need to make a marked effort to get quiet before the Lord. It is really only in those forced periods of quiet where we can learn to hear Him well. If we wait for storm and stress to push us to our knees, our head will be so cluttered, and the circumstances so noisy, that the only words we will hear clearly are our own worries and prayers for aid. His voice and guidance will be very, very hard to distinguish.

When work is good, and home life is reasonable, take the time to recognize the Lord’s soft voice. The more time you spend at His feet, the more easily you will know when it’s Him talking. Find a quiet place to daily ask Him about His Word, His world and your place in it. Before long you will not only know His voice, but will know it even within the noise, as His Word works in you, today.

John 10:27 (ESV) – My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 

John 14:16-17 (ESV) – And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Luke 10:39-42 (ESV) – Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,  but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Rom 10:17 (ESV) – So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Listening to the Holy Spirit (Rhema):

The voice of God thunders over the heavens. Nowhere is it not heard. In mindless creation there is complete obedience to My law. Each grain of sand, each star in its brightness, each wave of the sea departs not from its Creator’s command. But softer is the Voice to the chosen, and only with seeking will it be found for the counsel of the day. My Spirit abides always, but is not heard but in silence. The world echoes the great noise of men, and the enemy desires deafness from sin, for the hardened heart cannot hear God, and the gentle voice is not heard in a bantering crowd. There is a glow seen only in the darkness, and a touch known only when alone. In the quiet place I Am, always speaking, always reaching, that the heart will be moved in the ways of the Father. As in the heavens and in all creation, and in the heart of My children, it is in these ways that are perfect. Do not wait for the calamity, nor when the storm of fear approaches; it too brings the noise of a disturbed mind. Come into My presence in the days of calm, that you would know My voice in peace, then that peace and My counsel will sustain in the noise.