by Chuck Lehman

What do you do when you feel God is giving you a word for the year? Well, you should listen, ESPECIALLY when the word is listen!

I have a friend who has been totally deaf since a very young age. Nick volunteers at Shepherd’s Gate Inn often. Frequently I struggle to communicate with him…I catch myself shouting “WATCH OUT” when there is an unseen obstacle in his path as we are moving furniture or bellow to catch his attention from across the yard!

As we worked the commercial dish machine together, I was caused to ponder what it would be like to live in Nick’s world. Undoubtedly, he wouldn’t be distracted by the barking dog in the middle of the night, however, what if the dog was barking because the house was on fire?

Existence in total silence would sometimes seem inviting, but then I thought about all I would be missing…the lovely sounds of nature, the sweet sound of my wife’s voice as she says, “I love you!” Frustration would creep in waiting for someone else to learn MY language so I could communicate with them. I would miss everything from those rock and roll songs of the seventies to the worship songs on the radio, to the siren coming up behind me. My life would be drastically different if I couldn’t hear and listen.

My mind then went to the question, “What if I could hear, had full ability to listen, but chose not to?” My morning reading for the last 3 weeks has been from the prophet’s books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations and Ezekiel. Time and time again, over the last three weeks I read how God used lowly men to bring His message to His people. The message vas very unwelcomed and unaccepted, to say the least!

The message consistently was, “Listen here…I love you; you have prostituted yourself to other gods; I can NOT accept your sin and if you don’t turn from your grievous sins and return to Me, I will destroy and exile My people!” End of story…End of story IF the people would have listened! They CHOSE to not listen, hear or obey.

Every time I reread those Old Testament prophets and the deep biblical history they provide, I think, “HOW STUPID! Why would you be so stubborn? Just LISTEN!” Then sadly I look around this great United States and see us hunkering down and saying, “I won’t listen and you can’t make me!” We are no different than the people of Israel, Judah and Jerusalem…we can hear, but we choose not to listen! Just like those in the Bible, we want our freedom to our own demise.

My friend Nick is very special and is not deterred because he can’t hear; God has blessed him to be able to listen even without hearing. My prayer for all of us Christians, is this would be a year of listening to God…for us and America!

Listening challenge: Daily ask God what he want He wants you to specifically hear that day and then pay attention to His answer! Choose to listen well!