Hearing

Bewick's Wren--gotta love the white eye stripe

Sometimes I get really frustrated when I'm out birding. Just the other day I was out with my friend Kevin and we were looking for Bewick's Wrens on the Poppoff trail (the south part of the Greenway). I knew that we were in an area that was perfect for Bewick's--thick brush and lots of cover. I had seen many here in this same spot before. These wrens are pretty common on the Greenway but I'm always searching for them; they are hard to spot because many times they stay deep in the cover. So this time I pulled out my Iphone and started playing the Bewick's Wren song--usually this will bring them out to to the top of the foliage so that they are easy to spot. No luck.

Now, I didn't have any luck because I couldn't see them. But, my friend Kevin started pointing in five different directions because he was insisting that he heard multiple wrens respond to my call. This is the same guy that as we are walking along he hears the Black-capped Chickadees and the Golden-crowned Sparrows. I'm the one that takes the notes on what we see and "hear" so I just have to go along with it because eventually I spot them--so I don't really doubt Kevin's ears.

Sometimes I can hear these birds, but not anywhere close to Kevin or some of my other birding friends. It's unfortunate but years of duck hunting, shooting shotguns at close range, and heavy metal cranked all the way up have done some damage to my hearing. Sure I can always pick out Mallards and Canada Geese when they are making noise, but I still miss Bewick's Wren which is a pretty noisy bird--I should be able to hear it and know it.

The thing is--I probably do hear the Bewick's Wren, I just can't identify it. I don't know it. I know Mallards, I know Canada Geese, I know Wood Ducks, I know American Wigeon--my ears are trained as a duck hunter to know these. For some reason my lack of hearing doesn't inhibit me from hearing these birds.

It's the same thing with hearing God. I've heard people complain, seriously doubt, and sincerely question whether they could or would ever hear God. For sure God is speaking--just like the Bewick's Wrens really were singing. Maybe it's not our lack of hearing but it's our lack of practicing to listen to his voice so that we really know it. In John's Gospel he writes "the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out...the sheep follow him because they know his voice." Know His voice? If we don't know God's voice than how easy it would be to fall prey to the thief who wants to steal, kill, and destroy! The thief will masquerade as the Shepherd--we ought to be careful and learn how to know and discern God's voice in our lives.

How do we do that? Well just like if I want to learn the call of the Bewick's Wren I have to wait and listen for it. And listen again, and listen some more. I ought to look at it's sonogram and count the syllables. Discern whether the tone is high or low pitched. When does it sing the most? When is it quiet?

We discern and know God's voice by spending time listening to it in the Word. And more time in the Word. Pray and be still and wait for his voice. Waiting is vital. Being patient is key. Ask him questions and trust that you will receive answers. Compare those answers again to God's Word. More than anything, trust that He will speak and begin learning to listen and to hear.

Psalm 29:4--"The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic."