Refusing to listen

 

The older I get the worse my hearing is. I haven't had a hearing test for a while and probably need to go get my ears checked! It goes without saying that the closer I am to the source of the sound, the easier it is for me to listen. There are also some people who are naturally quiet or have a "weak" voice that really makes it hard to hear, and listening to them is a real chore. 

Regardless of the physical act of hearing, I think I am better at listening than I used to be in my younger days. My wife is an expert listener. She has a great way of not only listening, she is much better at perceiving the message behind the words. I am not at THAT level of listening. That is why we make a great team. She is great at REALLY HEARING what people are saying. 

Today, I was reading Ezekiel 20, and I was taken back by a few verses:

"On August 14, during the seventh year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, some of the leaders of Israel came to request a message from the Lord. They sat down in front of me to wait for his reply. Then this message came to me from the Lord: 'Son of man, tell the leaders of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: How dare you come to ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will tell you nothing!''" (Ezekiel 20:1-3)

My question from these verses: Does God ever refuse to listen to us? Then I found this verse in Isaiah:

"Listen! The Lord's arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear your call. It's your sins that have you cut off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore." (Isaiah 59:1-2)

Yes, Sin prevents God from hearing our prayers. Wow! there might be many reasons we don't get answers to prayers. But, THIS one is definitely within our control. His refusal to hear has nothing to do with HIM and has everything to do with us. For the next four chapters in Ezekiel, we get reason after reason why God would not respond to the corrupt leaders. In summary, they refused to repent and turn away from their sinful leadership. When we refuse to repent and refuse to turn away from our sin-filled lives, God will not listen to us! 

But, WOW, when we confess our sins to him (not someone else), HE HEARS US and will answer our call! How beautiful is that? Doesn't it make sense? When we separate ourselves from God, when the connection is broken, how can we expect God to listen to us? We need to re-connect with him. We need to remove the barriers before he hears us! It is not that his ears are not working. He is not deaf. He does not need a hearing aid. He needs us to fix our broken line of communication!

"Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me." (Psalm 66:16-20, emphasis added)

It is up to us to reconnect, to fix the broken line of communication. God is waiting. His ears are working and he is poised to respond in a powerful way! Praise God!