Hearing – Wed 4th July 07

I am fearfully and wonderfully made…Psalm 139:14

My dad’s hearing has been poor for a number of years. Partly it’s a hereditary issue, partly the result of not wearing ear protectors on the farm. He certainly hasn’t helped his condition with a reluctance to get specialist help. As a result my conversations with him are difficult and frustrating. The best I can do is listen and try to steer the conversation. There are so many things I’d like to talk over with him but he’s now virtually stone deaf… There’s always the post, but it’s not the same!

We can have confidence that our Father in heaven always hears us. In Psalm 62:8 David encourages us to pour out our hearts to Him.

Jesus said some very odd things about hearing in Mark 4 after telling the story of the sower:
V 9 he who has ears to hear let him hear
V12 hearing they hear not…

We’ve all heard the expression: it goes in one ear and out the other. What Jesus is saying in Mark is that it’s possible to hear but not to listen. We know the expression: “his words fell on deaf ears”. It’s a strange thing to say, but we need to learn how to listen. Some firms, in their staff training, offer a course in “active listening”. Some points:
· Listening requires concentration, focus and effort and time.
· Listening may prompt questions like: “what do you mean…?”
· Listening will be attentive to body language.
· Listening will shut out distractions.
· Listening gives respect to the speaker.

We all want to be listened to. Floyd McClung (YWAM) told the story of his journey home one Christmas. He’d had a punishing schedule of teaching, was mentally exhausted and was looking forward to a quiet flight. He took his seat and began to unwind with a book. Very soon a dishevelled man who stank of alcohol took the next seat and began talking at Floyd who resented the intrusion. To cut a long story short, Floyd became an active listener and discovered that this guy’s wife and kids had been killed in a car crash a few Christmases before. The only way he could handle the pain was to get out of town and drink. They wept and prayed together.

May God give us ears that actively listen.