What Are You Hearing?

 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

When I was about four or five, my family went to the movies. This was a rare event for us, since we didn’t have much by way of money, and with five kids, it could get spendy!

I have no recollection of what the movie was; I remember only one part of the whole evening. Before the movie, they showed a mini documentary about searching for Bigfoot. I’m sure many of you remember those grainy, black and white images shown time and again of the creature walking through the woods, and the casts made from the footprints, all to prove that Bigfoot does indeed exist! I was pretty much unaffected by all of this, until the narrator’s voice intoned, “This is what we believe Bigfoot sounds like….” My brother tells me now that they had the volume up really loud, but what followed was the most horrific, scary noise I’d ever heard. It went on and on! I remember clapping my hands over my ears and closing my eyes in terror. I think my brother tried to comfort me. From that moment forth, I was absolutely terrified of Bigfoot. Years of nightmares and fear of the woods at night followed. It probably didn’t help that one of my brothers fueled that fear in a way that only brothers can do!

Isn’t it amazing how hearing something only once can affect us so? At the time, my family didn’t know the Lord yet, though we did believe in Him, and were faithful attendees of church. I sometimes wonder if, even at my young age, I’d been trying to hear His voice, His whispers of comfort, His fighting on my behalf, that I could have been spared all those years of being terrified of something that I now no longer believe exists.

What else am I listening to, that I am allowing to block out His voice? To be honest, there is so much, I could write a book. I’d love to say that I’ve got it all together, but this is an ongoing battle that must be fought daily. What are you listening to? What’s keeping you from hearing His voice?

Father, teach us to hear You. Open our ears and our understanding. Block out the lies of the enemy, that we may serve and glorify You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.