Ears Wide Open
(May 2006)
My two little men do not like being disrupted during a good episode of Elmo. Each one sits perched in a motionless position, eyes glued on the screen absorbing every word and antic of their furry hero. They don't want to miss anything that he might have to say. My husband recently decided that a SUV equipped with a DVD player would be a good investment for our growing family. My boys have been thrilled to know that Elmo is not merely at home but is alive and well on the road too.
Whenever my husband and I need to engage in conversation, one of my children's favorite DVDs goes into the player and we are free to converse in the front seats. With no interruptions now we become completely engaged in our exchange sometimes getting louder and louder by the minute. My overly sensitive boys, fixed on hearing all that Elmo has to say, sit forward in the car seats and say, "Mommy and Daddy, Please turn it up, we can't hear!". With this, my husband's response is always the same, "Are your ears open? Why don't you try opening up your ears some more?" With this instruction, Jackson and Jerry Jr. immediately grab their ear lobes and try to stretch their ears to their fullest capacity. I always turn around to watch this. Each becomes completely engrossed in the process of "opening up their ears". While their hands tug intently at their ear lobes, their eyes open wider straining to assist in this stretching. They are each very serious about lengthening their ears and thus their reception to the sound.
Having finished this adjustment to their satisfaction per Dad's instructions, they sit back comfortably in their seats. He now asks, "Can you hear better?" They both nod their heads in approval and go back to the business of Elmo. The volume level hasn't changed yet they are both able to hear more clearly. Why? Their focus on listening has been intensified. Their ears have "gotten bigger" so they are better able to hear the object of their attention and affection.
Have you ever wanted God to turn the volume up; to speak louder
so that you could hear Him over the noise of your life? We sit
forward in disgust and say, "God, please turn it up, we
can't hear you!" We feel deserted as we struggle to hear
His voice but feel that no matter how hard we try we can't tune
in to His divine guidance. We wonder why He won't speak louder,
with more intensity and more clearly. We assume that the reason
it is so difficult for us to hear is that He is not doing His
part well. We feel certain that God has chosen to turn the divine
volume down resulting in our inability to clearly discern what
He is saying to us. The Father hears our plea and responds to
our whiny demand with an eternal answer, "Come
to me with your ears wide open, listen. . ."(Isaiah 55:3).
This is His word to you and to me today. He continues to patiently
nudge us toward Him in a effort to cause us to see that He is
always speaking loud enough for ears that are wide open to hear.
He woos us to Himself and asks us to focus the intensity of
our listening on Him. His volume doesn't need to go up, the
concentration on our listening does. So, today, He asks you
to pull on your spiritual earlobes and stretch your capacity
to hear what He will say to you. Ask the Lord to heighten your
spiritual senses so that your spiritual ears are tuned in and
your spiritual eyes are focused. He can and will give you an
awareness of His presence, His activity and His voice in the
mundane normalcy of your life. If you look for Him, you
will find Him. You've just got to search for Him with all of
your heart (Deut 5:24). Is your heart tuned in? Are you
ears wide open? Listen up, He's calling to you right now. Do
you hear Him?
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