Some things can hinder us from hearing from God. And after a while we end up like the guy on the Verizon commercial asking ” can you hear me now?”.
We try different preachers, Bible translations, and even clean up our act.
But still, all we hear is silence. The bad news is that we have things that hinder us from hearing from God.
But the good news is that there is something that we can do about it.
hoarding sin hinders us from hearing from god
People hoard what is valuable. They hoard whatever brings pleasure and value to their life. We think about Gold or maybe even in the past year toilet paper.
The very idea of hoarding involves the keeping of something to yourself.
Now at first glance, we would say that nobody hoards sin. Why would they?
But we hoard sin by trying to keep up our relationship with sin separate and hidden from God.
This of course is impossible.
Try doing this with your significant other and you will probably not survive.
God speaks freely with us when we speak freely with Him about our sins
Let’s be honest about why we keep our sin of choice around. Because it is fun.
But the fun of sin cannot begin to compare to the satisfaction of an unhindered relationship with the savior.
So the good news is that if we confess to God our sin God is faithful to forgive our sins.
The Loudest Voice isn't always the lord's voice
I love this story about Elijah that demonstrates the character and voice of God. There are fire and earthquakes that shatter entire cliffs.
But God is found to be in the quietness with a soft whisper.
A million messages are fighting for our attention. But yet we wonder what are the things that hinder us from hearing from God.
Sometimes we can’t hear from God because we are listening to so many other messages.
We are listening to social media, other people, and what we see with our eyes.
But we only have two ears. Think about how many times Jesus got away by Himself to pray. He knew that He had to give God His full attention to hear God’s full plan.
Sometimes we can't Hear from God because we don't make time to listen to God
Are you a good multitasker? Can you remember how hard it was to hear a message on tv when you were listening to music and reading at the same time?
Sometimes God is not silent we are just too Loud.
That is good news though. Because we can do something about that. All we have to do is make time to listen to God. Get up early and put all devices away.
Or maybe wait until everyone has gone to bed and have a conversation with God. But the reality is that those who hear from God consistently make time for Him.
Stop Turning down the volume
Sometimes things that hinder us from hearing from God are easily dealt with. This last issue is quitting on God.
After reading a certain number of verses or praying for a certain time nothing happens. That is at least in our eyes.
As long as our time with God is hit and miss we will begin to turn the volume down on spiritual things.
Desiring God has a great article on how to resist the lies that keep you from praying.
While turning the volume up on all the other voices in our life. We may redirect our effort into our hobbies, family, or work.
But we have to realize that there is no such thing as overnight success. And that most mountaintop moments even in the spiritual realm are built on a thousand steps in the valley.
We should not give up on hearing from God because He has not given up on hearing from us.