Acoustics—Day 3: The Voice of Others

Consider your response when someone tells you they hear voices. Immediately we assum they are crazy, insane, ready for the nuthouse. It is just not a normal thing to hear voices. In fact, our society encourages isolationism—a removal of self from our surroundings. So even though voices ring out across the world, we only hear what we want to hear. After all, hearing voices makes one crazy.

And yet Christians are told to listen for God but few receive and audible voice. So how do you know when you have heard the word of the Lord? What does it sound like? How do you know for sure? Burning bushes are on short order. Angels aren’t delivering messages. Has the word of the Lord ceased?

And then there are those who think they have heard the word of the Lord. We all know that hearing without doing is worthless. So how do you know when the word of Lord has taken root in your soul? As we look around to those who have made great impact on our world they were listening and responding to the word of the Lord. Their lives reflected an inward appropriation of that word. They lived out what they heard. And we will know when we have heard the word of the Lord when we can’t help but live it out. When it is a fire in our bones. When our heart is united with the heart of God.

But that is just crazy talk. Voices? Words from heaven? Fit for crazy loin cloth garbed prophets. So what do we do with Jesus regularly ending his sermons with, “He who has ears, let him hear”? Jesus encourages listening and hearing voices, and perhaps that is what endeared him to people. He would take time to listen and understand people instead of dismissing and ignoring.

As persons made to live in relationship it is necessary that we listen to the stories of our friends. And as a people with a story to tell and an invitation to extend it is crucial that we pay attention to the stories of those we welcome. We might be surprised at what we hear. There are few challenges as great as maintaining godly interpersonal relationships, and yet it is through other people that God so often chooses to speak to us.

Can you hear the cries of those around you? It’s God speaking.