"Trained To Hear Him"

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An American Indian was walking down the streets of New York City with a businessman and suddenly the American Indian said, "I hear a cricket". The businessman listened for a moment and exclaimed, "You must be just hearing things". As they walked on a couple of blocks, they approached a storefront that had flowers sitting out front. The American Indian walked up to one of the flower pots there and gently pulled back the flowers. He reached underneath the flowers and pulled out a tiny cricket. The businessman was astonished and questioned him as to how he was able to hear such a small sound in all that noise. The American Indian simply said, "I have been trained to hear him". Seeing the confused look on the businessman's face, the American Indian asked him if he had some change. The businessman reached into his pocket and pulled out some change and handed it to him. The American Indian dropped the change onto the sidewalk and suddenly everyone turned and looked toward where the change had landed. Amidst all the noise and the hurry of the busy New York street, the people heard that money hit the sidewalk and it got their attention.

So many times, people and even God's children, train themselves to hear the things of this world and they so often neglect to hear God's voice. From even before we are born, while we are still inside our Mother, our ears develop and our ear drums begin to beat to the vibration of the sound waves around us. Even though we don't realize it, as our ear drums react to the sound waves around us, these sounds become a part of our memory. While we may not realize it, we become trained to listen to these sounds. From that time and throughout our lives, our ear drums never cease to react to the sound waves they are exposed or subjected to and we hear many sounds. Those sounds that we hear most often are the sounds we train ourselves to hear, even though we may not realize it.

A good mechanic can be riding down the road in a car and if there is a valve that begins to rattle, he can hear that rattle long before the car owner. Even when the rattle becomes evident to all, that good mechanic can pinpoint where that rattle is coming from and what it is. The reason for this is because he has trained himself to hear these certain sounds. Now, most people, even after the sound of the valve rattle becomes evident to all, may be able to tell you that the noise is coming from up front, but the good mechanic can take the valve cover off the engine and show you exactly where the sound is coming from.

I have been working where I work for fifteen years now and many times, I have had people to comment that I could hear a choke-up even before it happened. A choke-up is when something gets cought in the machine I run, causing it to stop. It is true that I have started toward where a choke-up was about to happen before the machine ever stopped. The reason for this is because I have, even without trying, trained myself to hear these things. I have heard that machine running for fifteen years and I know what it is supposed to sound like when all is well. When something changes with that sound, I know something is not right and before too long, the origin of that alien sound will produce a choke-up.

Now, there may be those who would say that God doesn't speak to us any more, but I can tell you assuredly that those people either don't know Him or they don't know Him very well. God speaks to the lost and the saved alike and the problem is that they have not been trained to hear Him. If you are a true child of God, it is for certain that at some time in your life, God spoke to you and you heard Him. If you are lost, God may be speaking to you right now. If He is and you can hear Him, I urge you to listen to what He has to say to you, for it means the difference between life eternal or eternal death in the lake of fire. Now, I mentioned that those who say that God doesn't speak to people either don't know Him or that they don't know Him very well. But God's children can indeed know Him very well and still not hear Him and that is simply because they have not been trained to hear Him.

Many times, Jesus made the statement, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Now, that's just about everybody. In the book of Luke, chapter 8 and verse 8 we read, "And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when He had said these things, He cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus had just told the parable of the sower and the seed and He was calling the lost to salvation. In the very next verse, His disciples who knew Him and knew Him very well, questioned Him as we read, "And His disciples asked Him, saying, What might this parable be?". Even they, His very own disciples, had not adequately trained themselves to hear Him, but He assured them in verse ten, "And He said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand."

Friend, if you are a child of God, you are just as much a child of the Kingdom of God as were His disciples. And to you it is just as much given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God as it was to them. The only thing is, Have you been trained to hear Him? The question might be, How can one be trained to hear Him? As I mentioned in the beginning of this little article, there are many sounds that our ear drums are subjected to throughout our lifetime. Many of these sounds, we have no control over and we just have to hear them. There are certain sounds however that we can control and we simply choose not to.

If a person will surround themselves with the sounds of the things of this world, these things are what they will be training themselves to hear. If however, a person will tune themselves and surround themselves with the things of God, that will be what they will be trained to hear.

Just like the American Indian and the cricket. And just like the mechanic and the rattling valve. And just like myself and the machine I run at work. All these things come from being surrounded by these particular sounds. Likewise, the things of God and His voice become a part of us as we surround ourselves with them.

We have that choice as to what to surround ourselves with. What we choose to surround ourselves with will be the priority of our heart. To us, who are His children, it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. But let us beware of what we train ourselves to hear as we read, "Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." Luke 8:18. What are you trained to hear? Think about it!