When it comes to movies, I'm a late bloomer. I hardly ever go to the theater, and I only rent them once in a blue moon, so I don't see a lot of new ones when they're actually new. In the past, I've had friends who were “spoilers”. I'm sure you know one or two – they want to talk about a movie, especially the ending, and spoil it for you! I remember one occasion with a spoiler friend (it escapes me who) when they were doggedly trying to tell me about a movie (it escapes me which) I hadn't seen that I really wanted to. Now, if I'm going to spend two hours or so watching a movie, I don't want to know any pertinent details...especially the ending! But this faceless friend was being obstinate and wouldn't shut up about it. So, in order to salvage my future movie-watching experience, I covered my ears and yelled, “La-la-la-la-la-laaaa, I can't hear you!!”
Don't laugh, you know you've done it before :) The simple fact is that we don't want to hear what we don't want to hear, and we'll do what we can to avoid hearing it. The not-so-funny part of this anecdote is that we sometimes do the same thing when God's trying to tell us something we don't want to listen to. Surprisingly, or maybe not, what He tells us is usually similar to a movie. There's a situation that we want to see about, and it has a plot and an outcome. We don't know the details, but we know we want to see how it all plays out. Especially when our little movie won't be so great, the Lord tries to impart His knowledge of the certain circumstance and its ending. But because our flesh desires this thing, we hang on to our determination to see it transpire. That's when we cover our ears and yell, “La-la-la-la-la-laaaa, I can't hear you!!”
I suppose we could take comfort in two things: 1) God's not surprised by our bullheadedness, and 2) It's been happening since the beginning of creation. Of course, we shouldn't use either of these as excuses not to listen to God. On the contrary, we should look at the historical ignoring of God's words and realize how much it behooves us to listen to Him. We only get three chapters into the Bible when we see the effect of Adam and Eve's refusal to listen to God's instructions. That moment just set the ball rolling. Book after book, chapter after chapter, we read of people covering their ears when the Lord's trying to tell them something. Not only do we find out that they didn't listen, we find out what happened when they didn't...you'd think we'd learn to heed His instructions by seeing what others went through when they didn't.
I find it a little surprising that the “la-la-la-la-la-laaaa”ing didn't end in the Old Testament. When Jesus came down, the people who were ignoring Him actually got to see Him and the miracles He performed. They had gone from la-la-la-la-la-laaaa-ing by faith to la-la-la-la-la-laaaa-ing by sight! Wow. I do believe that, if Jesus were to be standing in front of me, telling me ANYTHING, I'd believe it!! Wouldn't you?
Over the years, and often in the most difficult ways, I've learned to stop covering my ears and hearken unto the voice of the Lord. For me, the hardest part of doing what He says is that it requires selflessness. Whatever the Lord commands requires a sacrifice of self and self's desires, and that can be perplexing to the Adamic nature. But because I've learned that heeding His voice has a much better outcome than ignoring it, I just pray for help to listen to and act on what He says.
So just remember, whatever the Lord tells you is always in your best interest. And sometimes, ignoring what He's trying to tell you can impact your life in ways you could never imagine. Keeping this in mind, resist the urge to cover your ears and yell, “La-la-la-la-la-laaaa, I can't hear you!!”
Don't laugh, you know you've done it before :) The simple fact is that we don't want to hear what we don't want to hear, and we'll do what we can to avoid hearing it. The not-so-funny part of this anecdote is that we sometimes do the same thing when God's trying to tell us something we don't want to listen to. Surprisingly, or maybe not, what He tells us is usually similar to a movie. There's a situation that we want to see about, and it has a plot and an outcome. We don't know the details, but we know we want to see how it all plays out. Especially when our little movie won't be so great, the Lord tries to impart His knowledge of the certain circumstance and its ending. But because our flesh desires this thing, we hang on to our determination to see it transpire. That's when we cover our ears and yell, “La-la-la-la-la-laaaa, I can't hear you!!”
I suppose we could take comfort in two things: 1) God's not surprised by our bullheadedness, and 2) It's been happening since the beginning of creation. Of course, we shouldn't use either of these as excuses not to listen to God. On the contrary, we should look at the historical ignoring of God's words and realize how much it behooves us to listen to Him. We only get three chapters into the Bible when we see the effect of Adam and Eve's refusal to listen to God's instructions. That moment just set the ball rolling. Book after book, chapter after chapter, we read of people covering their ears when the Lord's trying to tell them something. Not only do we find out that they didn't listen, we find out what happened when they didn't...you'd think we'd learn to heed His instructions by seeing what others went through when they didn't.
I find it a little surprising that the “la-la-la-la-la-laaaa”ing didn't end in the Old Testament. When Jesus came down, the people who were ignoring Him actually got to see Him and the miracles He performed. They had gone from la-la-la-la-la-laaaa-ing by faith to la-la-la-la-la-laaaa-ing by sight! Wow. I do believe that, if Jesus were to be standing in front of me, telling me ANYTHING, I'd believe it!! Wouldn't you?
Over the years, and often in the most difficult ways, I've learned to stop covering my ears and hearken unto the voice of the Lord. For me, the hardest part of doing what He says is that it requires selflessness. Whatever the Lord commands requires a sacrifice of self and self's desires, and that can be perplexing to the Adamic nature. But because I've learned that heeding His voice has a much better outcome than ignoring it, I just pray for help to listen to and act on what He says.
So just remember, whatever the Lord tells you is always in your best interest. And sometimes, ignoring what He's trying to tell you can impact your life in ways you could never imagine. Keeping this in mind, resist the urge to cover your ears and yell, “La-la-la-la-la-laaaa, I can't hear you!!”