Are we hearing God’s voice???
“Bethany?” There was no sign of hearing on her end. “Bethany (this time I spoke louder). still no recognition. I automatically walked around to capture her attention by looking in her eyes, and said, “Bethany?”
Smiling, she answered, “Oh, hi Mommy. What you say?”
“I said- do you want to go to help me shop for Christmas toys for Silas and Mataya?”
Jumping up and down she asked, “Oh goody. I love Miss Hoy. Wait- why are we going to Miss Hoy’s?
“No, I said we’re shopping for T O Y S.
This conversation typifies the last three weeks for Bethany, not only at home, but also at school. She “flat lined” two hearing tests at school and is having problems deciphering what’s going on. I’m relieved we’re seeing a specialist today to hopefully get to the bottom of her hearing problem. Children with downs syndrome often have hearing problems because their eustachian tubes are more horizontal and flat, not letting fluid drain as easily.I’ve learned to compensate without really thinking about it. If she doesn’t respond, I move to where she can see me as well as hear me. I make sure I have her attention and then I repeat it slowly and clearly.
But compensation isn’t the goal. Clear hearing and understanding is our desire!
It makes me think of the necessity of hearing. Deafness or impaired hearing bring its own set of challenges and problems. We take hearing and communication for granted- until we have a disconnect. I think of the Verizon ad for cell phones. “Can you hear me now?” We get irritated if we lose reception or our phone drops a call. We get upset if someone doesn’t hear us and we have to repeat what we were saying. It’s annoying to continually restate information. But, if we want to hear, we do something about it. If its our cell phone, we reposition ourselves to find reception. If the problem is within the physical structure of our ear itself, we go to a specialist to remedy the situation.
Prayer is a lot like that. We may wonder if God is listening to us….
but I’m sure He’s wondering if we’re listening to Him.
[Tweet “Prayer is more than talking to God- it’s making sure our heart is listening.”]
Credit – Matt Goer
If He had a megaphone, would we hear Him better? Does He have to yell to get our attention, or get straight in front of us so we are faced with His “voice”? Do we recognize the disconnect on our end? Do we misinterpret or misunderstand what He’s saying? Do we complain that our “reception” isn’t good? I’ve jokingly said when I’m not hearing what direction I should take, I wish His hand would appear and just “write it on the wall”. Do we get used to not hearing God talking to us? Do we compensate for what we take as silence, not realizing that something is wrong and we have avenues to pursue to get our “hearing” fixed? Do we muck along in life, missing what He’s saying, unaware He is speaking our name?
GOOD NEWS!!! We can put ourselves in position for better reception! We can go to the Specialist and ask Him to “fix” our hearing. 
To NOT “hear” Him speaking into our lives is a huge problem because His words are LIFE and COMFORT. Every day we should be hearing His Father heart speaking words of encouragement and love. He gave us His Holy Spirit to witness to our spirit that we belong to Him and to guide us into all Truth. He gave us His Word to reveal Life and Truth and cleanse us as we read His precious words. And He created this amazing world which loudly proclaims His love and care! Through every sunset and rainbow, each hawk that wings its way across the sky, our daily bread and nightly rest, the billions of stars and the smallest sparrow; these all communicate and express His Father heart for His creation.
Can you Hear Him now?
Good Morning, Cindy! Sorry to read about Bethany’s hearing loss. I can so relate with Tim’s mom. Her hearing test last week was not good. Her hearing had decreased from 80% to 55%. I will be keeping you both in my prayers. My love to all! Terri
So sorry to hear about Mrs. Master. Give her a hug from all of us! Thank you Terri- I’ll tell Bethany you’re praying for her- she still asks me when we’re going to see you! 🙂 We just got back from the Dr. and he scheduled out patient surgery for tubes and adenoid removal TOMORROW morning- so send up so of those prayers. This is a preliminary measure to see what else can be done. Hugs
What a picture of all the ways God communicates His love and provision for us and our necessities! Thanks so much, Cindy, for “opening our eyes” to pay attention, so we miss nothing that God has for us to hear.
Praying for Bethany, that all goes better than expected, tomorrow. Rest assured, the Great Physician is on the case, and Bethany couldn’t be in better Hands! Love and hugs!
Thanks for the prayers! She is His little girl first and mine second- that’s a comfort! He is speaking loudly to our hearts of His love and grace- His grace is sufficient! Love you Edy!
As it turns out, in about 15 minutes we wake Beth up and take her to the local Surgi-centre. Today a good friend and Christian doctor is putting special tubes in Bethany’s ear. Removing her adenoids too. Turns out her ear drums have receded and folded on top of themselves. Thanks for joining us in prayer! Life sure comes at you fast sometimes!
Another turn on the roller coaster of life dear! 🙂 Hands up!