Let them hear {Part II}

I hate being in a bad mood.
Like---HATE it. And I hate almost nothing (besides mice and snakes {spiders aren't on this list. I love spiders}).
But I hate being in a bad mood. 
The worst is when you know what is making you all growly and still can't do anything about it.
Blah.
Blah blah blah.

Via MyCrazyBeautifulLife

The blahs make everything muddled, grey, like a thick English fog that plays with your senses and leaves you feeling cold.

  Well I was in a bad mood for two days this week. And it was like I couldn’t see any forest for any tree. 

And I wanted to see.

 

  My last post was a Part I.

Which means that this is Part II.

; ) 

 And in said fashion of one thing leading to another, my mind tends to wander pretty much all over the place. That being said, as I was reading that passage in Psalms the other day my thoughts fled like a gazelle to all those times that Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

 The first passage in the gospels that has this is found in Matthew 11.

The story goes that John the Baptist is in prison and sends a message to Jesus saying, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" (verse 3).

Jesus sends a message back with what can seem like a sideways answer:

"Report to John what you hear and see: 'The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.'" (verse 4-6)

 Isn't that so interesting? He doesn't come right out and say, "Yeah, that's me; I am who you have been preparing the way for," but instead he basically says, "Well, look at what I have been doing. I give sight, I make people walk, I heal, I raise the dead, I preach good news, and those who could not hear now hear. So you tell me. Am I God, or am I just a god?"

 Whoa. 

Really, was he saying anything other than, "Do I restore people to be more like a God who speaks, sees, hears, smells, feels, walks, and utters sounds? Or I am I helping them become like a god who has a mouth but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see, feet but cannot walk, and ears but cannot hear?" ?

 That's Psalm 115 talk, Wolfies. 

Making John evaluate the situation based on what God or god it points to.

 A few verses later Jesus says to his disciples that little phrase that brought me to this passage in the first place, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

What in the world does that mean?

 In thinking about it, can it mean anything other than, "Those of you who are still capable of hearing, those of you who have not become totally 'deaf' due to your worship of gods created in your image, hear what I am saying"?

The concept is lost to me if it does.

But what was it they needed to hear, I wondered?

 And now my dears, I am going to lead you down a bunny trail...

: )

 So it got me curious. When does Jesus say this phrase, and what is he referring to? Why, of all of his messages, does he tell us to hear THAT?

 In this instance with John, I think this talks about one of the most basic truths of our faith, which is exactly why we need to hear it: What does God do and how do you know if something is of him?

 Have you ever really thought about that? Looking at situations and evaluating them based on whether they make you more like God or more like a god?

In the last post I had you evaluate yourself, and whether you were following a God who sees and feels and talks, or one who doesn't, based on who you thought you were becoming more like. 

 But lives are multi-faceted, being made up of all different sorts of elements, and I think if we don't stop and put thought to how we live our life, sometimes we can find ourselves carried away, to places we never wanted to be.

Consequently then, I have to ask myself the question: are there things in my life that are affecting which God or god I follow? 

And how about you? 

 Think about the things that make up your day. Ask yourself, does this activity help me see Truth (Biblical truth) more? Hear it, smell it (be aware of it), walk it, talk it?

Or does it blind me to the Lord? Do I not see him as clearly when I am involved, hear him as vividly, walk like Jesus as steadfastly?

 How about that thought process? Does it block your vision of God, put a wall up between the two of you? Are you hearing truth or lies, or are your thoughts now so muddled you can't tell the difference between the two?

 Or...Oh....that relationship? Does it open your eyes to Jesus more? Does it speak over you words that honor the Lord? Does it give you boldness to make your daily life follow in Christ's footsteps?

Or about all of those categories, do they----Not?

Are they turning you into one who has a mouth but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, noses but cannot smell, hands but cannot feel, feet but cannot walk, or---even---one who has ears but cannot hear?

 *Sigh.

 If any of you are like me you will notice things in your life and go, "Yeah, there is no way that is of God."

And then you will think about it and think about it and stew some more and then think about it and work yourself into a fine case of "The Blahs."

 And even I, little miss Almost-All-Days-Are-Good-Days, can just not know what to do from that point on.

Like this week when I had my bad mood. 

 Hah. It was almost like I couldn't see or hear or feel enough to know what's going on.

 Oh that's right! That's the problem!!

 And honestly, that's exactly what the problem was. I wasn't taking thoughts captives, I wasn't infiltrating my mind with truth, I was telling myself things I didn't know.

And in turn, I was blinding myself, binding my feet, and, as Winnie the Pooh would say, I was putting "fluff in my ear."

 I was creating myself in the image of a god my redeemed heart doesn't want to worship.

 Blah. The reality of that could make me spin further down.

 But God is good.

And he doesn't like downward spirals. They don't glorify him.

And through one thing or another that he brought into my life, I was pointed back, obviously, to him. Those things in my life that are of God did their job.

They told truth, and they pulled all kinds of fluff out of my ear so I could hear it.

In their own ways they said to me, "We worship a God who sees, a God who walks, a God who speaks,  and a God who most definitely hears. So you tell me, isn't that a God you can trust with this stuff?"

 And isn't that a Hallelujah if there ever was one?

Jesus will restore to you that which you gave away.

 And that's a truth that will take away the Blahs.

 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

 To be continued....