Incline
Thine Ear
My son, attend to my words; incline
thine ear unto my sayings.
Proverbs 4:20 KJV
Janelle bundled the covers around her
hands and pressed them tightly against her ears. She was hoping that
by doing so she’d be able to shut out the sirens and street noises
below. But it was to no avail…her first night in their new
apartment felt like anything but the honeymoon they’d just returned
from.
Sleeping soundly, her husband, Jim, was
oblivious to his wife’s plight.
How is that possible?! she
wondered. Is he deaf?!
Sometime around 3:30am exhaustion won
out. In and out of fitful sleep she dozed, never really finding
complete rest. When morning finally arrived, Jim was surprised to
find Janelle sitting against the headboard sound asleep. He watched
as her body involuntarily shuddered. After extended observation he
realized her movements coincided with noises emanating from outside.
“Hey,” he spoke softly. Janelle
stirred and opened her eyes. “You okay?” he asked.
“How can you sleep through all that
racket?” she questioned.
“I’m sorry,” Jim responded
sheepishly. “I should have warned you. But it’s been so long
since I’ve heard the street at night that I forgot how loud it was
when I first moved in here.” Drawing her close, he assured her,
“After a while you’ll learn to tune the noises out. You’ll get
used to it.”
†
It is possible, even for God-loving
Christians, to ‘condition’ the ears of our heart to silence the
whisper of the Holy Spirit. We tell ourselves we know what we can
handle the temptation...no problem…it’s okay to watch this…to
allow our children to do this…to not respond when God nudges us
about certain things.
When we don’t want to listen to God’s
warnings we simply disregard His advice and go our own way. Done
enough, we harden our heart in that area of our lives.
God instructs us to incline/focus the
hearing of our hearts to His voice, not tune Him out, because He
knows how easy it is for us to fool ourselves. Complete surrender to
God isn't easy…but it is rewarding. It also keeps us out of a lot
of unnecessary trouble.
Is there an area of your heart shut off
to God? If so, ask Him to help you adjust your spiritual hearing.
Prayer
“Help me, Holy Spirit,
to listen for the sound of Your voice in every issue of my life.
Amen.”
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