Claudette's Blog

HARD OF HEARING

Have you ever been asked ?are you hard of hearing?? Or, you will hear someone say there not hard of hearing there just stubborn, and set in their ways.   I don?t know if any one of those coined phrases is good to hear especially when you are on the receiving end.

 I think asking the Lord Periodically to pull down our strong holds and mindsets as individuals will help greatly in the hard of hearing area. Most problems in this area are stemmed from not having an open mind to how the Lord speaks and guides. I think of the story of the man in the water crying out for the Lord to help him, the Lord sent the boat, but he passed it up, the Lord sent the helicopter, and he passed it up, why?  Because he wanted to be rescued by the Lord in his own way; that mind set will make anyone of us sink.

There are individuals in Ministries, Jobs and Organization that the Lord has told them ?it?s time to go?, but their mind set has made them hard of hearing, they feel the Lord will tell them the way they think the Lord should tell them; sadly much is missed when this happens along with blessings lost.

The Lord speaks to us through his creation and through others, and as he has shown me he will speak through many avenues, and when I am not sure I know he will confirm to me to let me know this is the way walk in it.

Example of the Lord speaking through his creation: During a difficult time in my life, I was having a conversation with my husband about issues we had come up against, I was unsure of what was happening, and the Lord knew we were heavily stressed.  Suddenly, my husband and I looked up and saw a bird flying over, as the bird flew by it decided to do what birds do best from the air, and drop a small amount of bird dropping.  The Lord let us know that what we were facing was not going to amount to crap, and I can testify today that the situation did not amount to anything.

The Lord speaks through his creation, but we must be open.

Sadly, in scripture there was a man that did not listen to a word given, because the man that was crossing over this man territory was an enemy. The Lord is not a respecter of persons when He speaks to us.  The individual I am talking about is Josiah. Josiah celebrated the Passover Lamb in Jerusalem, he went forth and appointed the priest to their duties and encourage them in the service of the Lord?s temple.  Josiah removed idols from the territory; he cleaned up the detestable things that did not honor the Lord their God. In all what Josiah did in the eyes of Lord, Josiah failed to listen, he became hard of hearing.

After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle. ²¹ But Necho sent messengers to him, saying, ?What quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.?

 ²² Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God?s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.

 ²³ Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, ?Take me away; I am badly wounded.? ²⁴ So they took him out of his chariot, put him in his other chariot and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. 2 Chronicles 35:20-24

When you read verse 22 in the scripture it says, Josiah would not listen to what Necho had said at God?s command, but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.

How many of us fight God on the plain of Megiddo? Because we harden ourselves to the message given to us, from someone we feel is an enemy, or the message given to us is not how we feel it should be given, ?after all would not God tell me before he would tell you?!

Maybe you feel the Janitor at the church does not have enough education or wisdom to give you a word from the Lord after all you have 25 years in the ministry, the janitor has only been involved in the Church a year.

I believe the church is in need of a hearing aid, because of the following.

Here is a short list:

Deaf to direction

Deaf to someone else given them insight, or orders to depart

Deaf to helping others and mentoring others, because of mulish rule

Josiah might have let the leadership position go to his head; however the end result from not listening took his life.

I will encourage you that the Lord will maneuver you if you have an open ear to hear with a receptive heart. I know because he has done this for me. 

Father in heaven I pray pull don?t our strongholds and pompous mindsets, helps us to take heed to your voice Lord, give us a ear to hear and the wisdom to know that you are speaking and giving direction for us to move forward, help us not to harden our hearts to your instructions. Amen

Blessings,

Claudette