For two years, I passed the audiologist’s hearing test with flying colors, but I still couldn’t hear Ron from across the room. Dinners with friends in noisy restaurants made following conversations increasingly frustrating. Our TV’s Closed Caption became our default setting, yet doctors said my hearing was normal. I knew something wasn’t right; I just didn’t know what it might be. Finally, doctors offered Auditory Processing Disorder as a possible culprit. Those who suffer from this can hear sounds, but their brains can’t understand and interpret them. The more I learned, the more I was convinced my processor had been burnt to a crisp! The only solution is to turn up the volume with the help of hearing aids. I had 30 days to try them out. Some people got great results; others did not. I was willing to give them a try.
Thankfully, Ron noticed a big difference the night I wore them home and declared them to be worth every penny. (I wasn’t the only one frustrated.) He affectionately named them Thelma and Louise. I can now eagerly follow conversations at dinner, and Closed Caption has returned to the options list.
Thelma and Louise are not your granddaddy’s hearing aids. These are barely noticeable and connect to the Bluetooth on my phone. I can listen to my music, answer phone calls, talk to Siri, and hear incoming text messages. I even have an app on my phone that controls their settings. At first, I kept asking Ron, “Do you hear what I hear, or am I the only one?” To which he would reply, “Hear what?” I had to adjust to all the voices in my ears and learn which ones to pay attention to.
We all hear a variety of voices in our heads selected from our soul’s list of options. We can choose to listen to the Spirit of Truth or the Father of Lies. Jesus went through the same thing. The Holy Spirit sent Him to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1-11) This time of temptation would define Jesus’ character and prove His ability to lead us in overcoming evil. It would help us see Him as One who endured things common to us all. Satan’s words tempted Jesus with physical needs, emotional desires, and usurping God’s control. Satan STILL uses those same old tricks to tempt us.
We hear, “If God loved you, you wouldn’t suffer.” And we forget how God held us in the wilderness and gave our strength a chance to grow. We hear, “If you were really friends, they would never let you down.” And we forget how lonely times in the wilderness revealed our true friends. We hear, “If you achieved that dream, you’d have all you ever wanted.” And we forget the showers of blessings, even in the wilderness, proving that His dreams for us are immeasurably better than those we can ask for or imagine.
We can do nothing to stop the evil one from trying to change our default settings. I’m writing this because I often need a reminder to pay attention to the right voice. I thought you might, too. When we turn up the volume on God’s Word, we allow the Spirit to empower us to turn a deaf ear to the Father of Lies. I’ve found these to be good words to meditate on line by line:
“So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.
O people of [God’s family], you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you.
You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
Your own ears will hear him.
Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left.
Then you will destroy all your silver idols and your precious gold images.
You will throw them out like filthy rags, saying to them, ‘Good riddance!’”
(Isaiah 30:18-22 NLT)
