"Trying To Hear - part 2"

"And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." Mark 4:18,19

Yesterday we talked about a very common phrase that we use- "God is trying to tell us something.". We said that this leaves you with the impression that God has a hard time articulating what He wants to say and that He struggles with being able to communicate His message to us. Of course, that isn't true, God never has a hard time communicating- He speaks very clearly and is easily understood. What we should say instead is that it is "us who are 'trying' to hear what He is saying"- not Him trying to say it.

We also said that one of the main reasons why we don't always understand what He is saying is because we are being distracted- the distractions take our full attention away from our "listening". This morning I want to talk a little more about what some of those distractions are.

The verse above clearly lets us know that the "cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things" will "choke the word" (choke out what is said)- in other words, these things will hinder us from hearing Him. There are other things that hinder as well, and they come from without and within. We already know that too much television and too much time spent in other forms of entertainment will distract us, but there are other things such as our culture, society and education that will hinder us from hearing what the Lord is saying. When God speaks, everything He says has a "Kingdom perspective" to it- His Kingdom. His Kingdom and this world often clash with each other. For example, His Kingdom teaches that we are to "forgive those who trespass against us". Our culture, society and intellect tell us to "get revenge or hold a grudge". So when He is telling us to forgive that person that hurt us, we have a hard time hearing that because we are distracted by what these others teach us. (In this example, we are also distracted from hearing by our own pain and hurt that was inflected upon us by that person.) To sum it up- when our culture tells us one thing, when society says one thing, when our intellect says one thing, and God says something that is in opposition to what they are saying, we have a hard time hearing because we are so influenced in our way of thinking by them.

Our own agenda often distracts us from hearing what the Lord is saying to us. We have our own plans laid out and when He speaks to us in a contrary manner- like when He says that our plan is not His plan for us- then what we want often overshadows what He is saying. Our own determination to do something, our rebellion, our own desires, all make it hard to hear what He is saying.

What is distracting you? What are the "cares of this life" that are choking out His voice/word? What influences you other than Him, making it hard to hear Him above them? Until we deal with the distractions we are always going to be "trying to hear".

Have a great day. The Lord speaks plainly but distractions will distort His voice.

For further reading:
Luke 11:2
Isaiah 28:12
Acts 7:29-32

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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