How's your hearing?

If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.  –Mark 4:23 (NIV)
 
My hearing isn’t what it once was. I have tinnitus, with two distinct, high-pitched tones ringing in either ear. The noise is louder sometimes than others, but never completely goes away. It seems to be getting worse with age. That said, I might be hearing God as well as I ever have. This is not by accident….
 
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  –James 1:5 (NIV)
 
That’s right – I ask for wisdom. It’s my only hope. There is a paradox in Scripture that can sound like some kind of reverse Robin Hood philosophy. It’s a statement made by Jesus when he discusses His reason for teaching in parables. He repeats it later while making a point about stewarding the resources entrusted to us by God.
 
Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  –Mark 4:25 (NIV)
 
So does God steal from the poor and give to the rich? Does He shroud Himself in mystery to make Himself unreachable? Does He hide from those most in need of His help? Is there somewhere to send in our box-tops so we can obtain our secret decoder ring? On the contrary….
 
He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.”  –Mark 4:21-22 (NIV)
 
We would not expect any relationship to flourish without some level of attentiveness on our part. Relationships worth cultivating require a desire to know the other person, time invested in getting to know them, and communication that leads to understanding.
 
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.”  –Mark 4:24 (NIV)
 
I haven’t arrived yet. Not even close. I’ve learned enough to realize how little I know. I am not capable, in my own wisdom, to grasp the mind of God, much less properly pursue His will in my life. But His Spirit lives in me. I’ve become hungry to listen and I’m continually amazed at what He is gracious to teach me.
 
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.  –1 Corinthians 2:9-13 (NIV)
 
So how’s your hearing?