Can You Hear It?

Clackity-clack, clackity-clack, woo-woo!

Wendy and I love the sounds of the four or five trains that pass by daily where we live in Louisiana. When we first moved here, I would stop whatever I was doing to listen to the exciting sounds of the approaching locomotives.

Then, after having lived here for a while, it dawned on me that I hadn't heard a train for a long time, not a single one.

What happened to the trains? I wondered. Did the global pandemic shut down the railroad companies? Do trains pass through this part of the country only at certain times of the year? Will I ever hear a train going by again?

Then, as if on cue, clackity-clack, clackity-clack, woo-woo! I've heard them daily, ever since. Here's what happened.

I was experiencing the phenomenon researchers call Selective Hearing. It's our brain's ability to prioritize what we hear. SH is why you can listen to a selected person's voice in the middle of a loud crowd. It's the reason you can focus on your work in a buzzing coffee shop. As you become familiar with reoccurring sounds, often your brain decides it no longer needs to hear them. It focuses your hearing on noises and voices it deems more important.

The more familiar I became with the daily passing trains, the lower their comforting sounds fell on my hearing's priority list. The rails had still been rattling, and the horns were blowing just as they always had. I didn't hear them anymore because I was listening to other things that my mind decided were more important.

Like me, perhaps you've experienced Selective Hearing concerning the voice of God's Spirit. I've gone through seasons of time only to suddenly realize I'd not heard His voice for a long while.

Is it because He's not talking to me? Does He only speak when I pray?

Likely, it's because I allowed His voice to become too familiar, and other things became more important to me. If this has happened to you, here are a few recommendations to help retune your ears. These have helped me immensely.

  1. Restore your heart to fellowship with God. "Lord, I ask You to forgive me for allowing other things to get in the way of hearing your voice."

  2. Acknowledge the awe and God-given privilege of hearing the voice of your Creator. Of all the voices you’re able to hear, one of them is the voice of The Almighty God.

  3. Each morning, take a few minutes and set His voice as a priority over all other voices. Like young Samuel, “Speak Lord, I’m listening.”

  4. Acknowledge when He speaks to you by being grateful, obedient, and faithful to His directives.

“The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me”. (John 10:27 AMPC)

“Today listen to what He says. Don’t be stubborn as in the past when you turned against God.” (Hebrews 3:15)

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Arthur Evans