Listening or Hearing?

		And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.  Matthew 13:14 &15 With all the clamour and noise that is going on today, are we truly listening and hearing God's voice speaking to us? I Kings chapter 19 reminds us of Elijah running away from Jezebel and Ahab, and he just wanted to give up and die. Elijah thought it all was a tremendous waste of time, people were worshiping idols and doing all kinds of wickedness, and he just didn't want to deal with it anymore. He was sick and tired of it. He thought he was the only righteous person left on earth. Several wonderful things happened to Elijah during this time. He learned how to listen to the voice of the Lord. It wasn't in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. It was a “still, small voice”, that didn't cause a lot of commotion and wasn't overwhelming his senses with signs and wonders. The still, small voice of reason gave Elijah back his reason for why God put him where He did. God told him that there were still 7,000 people that were righteous, contrary to himself thinking that he alone was righteous. And then, Elijah meets Elisha! He finds a true friend to accompany him. So often I get a little overwhelmed. I think “Why do I even bother????” I see the noise and stupidity that goes on around me. Sometimes like Elijah I want to give up, or run away and hide. But God's still, small voice reminds me that it “isn't all about me”. It is about Jesus... and He is faithful to accomplish things that He desires to do through me, He has me here for His reasons and has a purpose for my life. It isn't glitzy and glamorous, and earth-shattering like an earthquake. He made me a simple servant that often fails to do what He wants of me. But like with Elijah, He brings me nourishment and refreshment, and the common sense that strengthens me once again to keep on going. Hallelujah! (about the picture that I chose at the top of this entry... I thought it was funny, :) the reason I chose it is because it reminds me of how we---myself included---want to hear all the juicy stuff, and silly stuff, the "Hollywood gossip" kind of stuff. But listening to God's word is so antithetical to all the salacious and tantalizing and vapid garbage that we want to fill our ears with)