Nothing In My Ears
I have a great deal of respect for the medical profession. My mom was a nurse and some of my favorite doctors are…doctors. But I can’t be the first to wonder if some have excess wax build-up in their ears that inhibits their ability to listen. (Same principle might apply to car repairmen, husbands, and children.)
A couple of years ago I served as substitute parental figure for my granddaughter’s doctor appointment to address a troublesome medical issue that too long had been part of the scenery of her young life. Six-year-old Grace sailed through the x-rays and walked out with an abundance of stickers and the praise of the radiology tech. Then we skipped from the x-ray department to the pediatric department. The pediatrician asked several questions, but by his responses, I could tell he wasn’t listening to my recitation of the symptoms and our concerns any better than the average husband listens to his wife’s redecorating plans during the SuperBowl. Grace must have sensed the same. During the doctor’s exam of her ears, nose, and throat, he said, “She’s got brown eyes.” With a shade of sarcasm she may have inherited from me, she responded, “Yes, but I had those way before all this started.” I guess that’s what medical centers are for. She had me in stitches.
God is a listening God. He hears both what we said and what we really meant. He hears the groans too deep for words. He listens to the faint changes in our heart rate and our murmurs of discontent. His ears are attuned to a silent cry. Taking no breaks, vacations, or…um…sabbaticals, the Lord listens when we call out to Him. It’s one of the sweetest benefits of relationship with Him. We are heard. He gets all the details right. He has our “chart” memorized. And He can’t be distracted.
Amazing.
PRAYER: Thank You, Father, for hearing when I pray, or groan, or sigh. Thank You for giving Your children Your full attention. Help me return the divine favor—listening with my full attention to You, getting Your details right, memorizing Your “chart,” and remaining single-mindedly undistracted from what You’re saying.
“I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech,” Psalm 17:6 KJV.
Today’s devotional is by Cynthia Ruchti, writer and producer of the radio ministry THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME and current president of American Christian Fiction Writers. Cynthia’s debut novel—They Almost Always Come Home—releases from Abingdon Press in Spring 2010. Cynthia writes stories of hope that glows in the dark. www.cynthiaruchti.com.
