The human mind is an interesting machine. It is capable of receiving, storing, and utilizing amazing amounts of information. The potential our minds possess is seemingly infinite. This makes it all the more frustrating and embarrassing when our minds fail to function appropriately with the most basic of tasks: looking and listening.
We have all had those moments when the information is coming in, but it doesn’t connect or compute.
We’ve all been in the middle of a conversation when, for whatever reason, our minds go blank. We are hearing what the other person is saying, and perhaps we are even smiling and nodding along as if we understand and agree with everything they are saying, but we are not actually receiving or processing the information. We have ears, but we’re not really hearing.
At other times, the problem is more optical than auditory. For instance, as I was leaving the house one day, I could not find my sunglasses. I began checking all of the places where I normally placed them, but could not for the life of me find them. I even reached up on my head to make sure I hadn’t foolishly forgotten them on my person. Finally, I went and asked my wife if she’d seen them. She took one look at me and started laughing hysterically. When she regained her composure, she said, “THEY ARE ON YOUR FACE!” They were, quite literally, right in front of my eyes. I had eyes, but I wasn’t seeing.
The struggle is real. As the saying goes, “The lights are on, but nobody’s home.” We have all had those moments when the information is coming in, but it doesn’t connect or compute. Among the many issues this can create, the greatest is our inevitable failure to act on said information. As a general rule, we won’t do what we don’t know.
Throughout the Bible, there are warnings of the issue of having ears that fail to hear and eyes that fail to see. In Matthew 13:14-15, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah, saying, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” These words are to the religious, to people of faith. The warning is rather common sense and one we need to hear both early and often. For, if we fail to hear what God is saying to us, see how God is working, and, most importantly, to allow that to impact our hearts, we will invariably fail to act accordingly. This will result in us missing amazing opportunities to participate in the outworkings of God’s power, presence, and promise in the world. Consequently, we will miss the blessings God has for us. Again, the issue isn’t so much a failure to hear or see; the issue occurs when what we see and hear fails to connect within our hearts and minds.
It’s so easy to live distracted lives. The world works incredibly hard to obtain and maintain our attention. They have made a science of discovering every desire and longing of our hearts and perpetually parading them before us to draw us in. As a result, we have become dulled to much of what we hear and see. We take in information passively. Again, our ears and eyes are open, but we aren’t really hearing or seeing.
God is still speaking; God is still moving.
God is still speaking; God is still moving. As followers of Jesus, we need to make sure our ears and eyes are open and that we are alert and aware of what God is trying to say to us. We need to allow what we hear and see to reach our hearts in order that it might move our hands so that we can serve our Lord and receive the blessing He has for us. We have been given ears to hear and eyes to see. Let’s endeavor to use them.
Well said. The struggle IS real, I find myself distracted easily these days especially, as I attempt to study the word. I know who is the culprit, I pray for concentration more often than most folks know.