The world can be a noisy and distracting place. Our ears are bombarded with so much noise and filth from all around us and can get clogged up, preventing us from truly listening. We need to clean out our ears and work at keeping them clean and clear.
Did you listen to the back and forth media coverage from the last presidential election? What about the multi-sided coverage of COVID-19? Did you feel like you needed to take a shower after listening to it? Now we are hearing that a terrorist organization just took over Afghanistan and is oppressing the people there, especially Christians and women. The more I listen to the news, the more I want to put something in my ears to block them up.
We can’t block our ears and cut ourselves off from the world, but we need to have a better filter that keeps out the things that are poisonous to our soul. When we take in primarily the negative and controversial, we become negative, hateful, and angry. The anger and frustration inside of us makes it harder for us to love others.
Spend some time each day in silent prayer with God. The better relationship we have with God, the better we will be able to know His thoughts and where He is leading us. Sometimes it feels like we only reach out to God when we are in trouble. If we listen to God, we might avoid some of our problems in the first place.
So let’s keep our ears open to God’s message to us. Be open to go where He is leading us and don’t let the whisper of God get drowned out by all the yelling in the world. When we open our ears, we will be smiling from ear to ear just like a formerly deaf man upon hearing the voice of Jesus for the first time.
