Craig Clouston

 Divine Q-tips

August 29

And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

1 Kings 19:12

“Did you hear what I said?” Kelly broke in on his wife’s reverie.

“What? Did you say something?” Her startled response told Kelly that Denise hadn’t heard a word he’d said.

Always the jokester, Kelly decided to have a little fun at his wife’s expense. “You never listen to me!” he wailed in mock frustration, wiping a pretend tear from his eye. “You need to clean your ears out with Q-tips!” He forced himself to keep from laughing, “You don’t give me the time of day anymore! I slave my life away for you and what do I get in return? I’ll tell you what: nothing! A great big nothing!” He couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore.

“You big doofus!” she said, swinging and missing her prankster husband. “I’m sooooo sorry!” She almost touched the floor in a benevolent, servant-style bow, as if humbling herself before her master. “What, pray tell, can this lowly waif do for his highness?” The words dripped with sarcasm.

“Okay, okay,” he surrendered. “We could do this all night. But I seriously thought you were listening when I asked if you minded that I go golfing with the guys tonight? I mean, I know you don’t care. I was just wondering if you had any plans.”

“Nope, nothing that would require the king to stay home guarding his kingdom.” She teased. “Have fun, my dear. Hey, would you call Bruce and have him ask Patty to come over while you’re gone, please?”

†

We complain about never hearing from God when, in reality, we haven’t been tuned in to the sound of His voice.

We desire some ground-shaking form of correspondence, something more tangible than a whisper and easier to recognize. God, in His sovereignty, would rather we learn how to listen for the gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit.

In truth, there are times when we can’t hear God because we don’t want to, so we pretend He is mute. The truth is we are deaf, and what our spiritual ears need a good cleaning with divine Q-tips.

Have you ever dug too deep with a Q-tip? It hurts! The more attentive we are, the less digging is required.

Prayer

“Clean my spiritual ears, Lord, so I can hear You when You speak. Amen.”