Am I Really That Hard of Hearing? How Do I Hear God?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The other day I was preparing meals for our family when my daughter Emily was trying to tell me something. I could see that she was talking to me, but I could not hear her words no matter how I cocked my ear, even though I was very physically close to her. The room was filled with noise. An air conditioner was running, other people were talking, and there was the low hum of appliances filling the air.  Sound was everywhere, but none of it was very loud. It’s just that there was so much of it interfering with the projection of her voice. There was visual noise as well.  Movement was in the room. Josh was doing something in the kitchen just inside the corner of my eyesight. I’m not sure, but there was probably a dog in the middle of the kitchen floor.  This inability to hear a voice is not a terribly unusual phenomenon. There have been many times, for instance, when I’ve been kayaking, and my children have been down river from me while I called to them at the top of my lungs, thinking my goodness, why can’t they hear me. In contrast, there have been other times when I have been able to decipher what someone is saying to me in the midst of the roar of loud engines, or loud weather, or loud music. 

All of this has application to how we may (or may not) hear God.  When I couldn’t hear Emily, it is because I was distracted by a lot of stimuli, and because other sounds were competing with her voice.  When she and Josh could not hear me on the river, it is because they were far away from me, and the distance conspired with the pleasant and natural noises of the river to drown my voice before it ever arrived in their ears.  But how did I hear the voices of my friends in the din of engines, or thunder, or rock and roll?  Because I knew my friends well, and could anticipate their words, or read their lips, and so still perceive their messages even if I couldn’t fully hear them with my ears.

The bible tells us to be still and know that he is God (Psalm 46:10). That psalm is instructing us to remove distractions from our lives so that we can hear God’s voice without all the commotion that fills up our lives.  James tells us that if we move closer to God, he will move closer to us (James 4:8).  If you want to hear his voice, then it is best to move your boat closer to his so that the distance can be shortened, and his voice can easily reach your ears.  Finally, if you know God, you will hear his voice (John 10:1-42). His sheep know him, and so hear his voice, even in the midst of dangers and distractions.  And the best way to know God is to know his word (John 1:1) because he is the word.