A Sound from Heaven
by Dr. Randall Worley (Real and Relevant)
The desparate times that we are living in require that we hear God more clearly than ever before. I read a story a few years ago about a man living druing the great depression that was able to hear something that others ignored which changed his life. The depression of the twenties brought with it unprecendented unemployment. On ocassion an announcement would be made that a factory was hiring and people would line up before dawn to get a job. On this paricular morning the man who is the subject of this story rose early to get in line outside of the factory only to discover that when he arrived that the line was already very long. At first he was distraught thinking that he had missed his opportunity. He reluctantly took his place in line with little hope. While waiting on the door of the factory to open he heard a rhythmic tapping that seemed to go unnoticed by everyone else. As he listened intently he recognized that it was morse code. Being trained in this form of communication he realized that someone on the other side of the factory door was sending a message. After hearing it repeated several times he startled and even angered those in front of him by breaking out of line and rushing to the front. He began to tap on the door responding to the code that was coming from inside. The door opened and the employer said to him "You understand morse code don't you?" With excitement the man responded "Yes I do!" The employer asked him "What was I saying in the code?" He responded, "You were saying if you can hear and understand this sound step out of the line and come to the door the job is yours."
There is a sound from heaven in these times that is a message of hope and opportunity if only we can hear it. One of the most frustrating things we can experience during a time of feeling deaf to God's voice is to hear others regularly saying "The Lord spoke to me." The scripture says that there are "many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them without signification."(I Cor. 14:10) We live in a world of incessant clamour. The myriad of sounds that reverberate around us makes it difficult to tune in to what is significant.
Human beings have a limited frequency of hearing. Some sounds vibrate above and some below our threshhold of perception. For example, your dog can hear things that you can't. Research has shown that people that are blind have a keener sense of hearing than those with sight. The brain compensates for the loss of sight by intensifying what they hear. Maybe thats why we sometimes go through seasons where we feel we are without any vision and groping to find our way. It could be that we are learning to hear even when we can't see. II Cor. 5:7 says "We walk by faith and not by sight." And Romans 10:17 says "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God."
I have three sons that are relatively good musicians and none of them can read music. They play by ear. Their love of music motivated them to develop the ability to hear the notes and interpret what they hear through their instruments. I have watched them many times tuning their guitars adjusting the tuning pegs back and forth until they hear each string producing the sound it was designed to produce. They know that it is in tune when the guitar resonates in harmony with what they hear in their head. Jesus said "That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 18:19) The word "agree" means symphony or to harmonize. Like the strings of a guitar that are put in tension sometimes our lives are put in tension so that we are in tune with the sound that is coming from heaven.
The dischord and dissonance of the world around us keeps us from hearing what God desires to say to us. In the wake of a famine Elijah had to learn to hear God in a new way. Jezebel was threatening to assassanate him. Here is man that had heard God so clearly in the past and now he is in fear for his life. Hiding in a cave with a bounty on his head he is blown by hurricane force winds, then shaken by an eathquake and finally the fire. The Lord was not in any of this. After all of these cataclysmic events he hears God in a still small voice.
THIS ARTICLE WILL BE FEATURED IN ONE OF THE UPCOMING MORNINGSTAR JOURNALS
by cialis tadalafil lilly
June 16th, 2010 (01:06)