Confusion

 October 6, 2023

Hearing loss can be entertaining. The first Friday of every month, a few friends meet at one of our homes for dinner, conversation, and prayer. The words “few friends” are important here. When I am with more than a couple people, the background sounds of conversations tend to either block or scramble what enters my brain. 

Case in point: tonight as we sat around the table, our hostess said, “You can lick my leg.” I thought that a somewhat unusual invitation, so I inquired about it. I can’t remember what she actually said, and I doubt anyone else can, either. The hilarity around the dinner table consigned whatever she said to the Never Never Land of conversations.

The problem of course, wasn’t in the message given, but in the message received. The receptors in my ears are damaged; the message got scrambled. It reminds me of the words of Isaiah quoted by Jesus in Matthew 13:

“For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And should understand with their heart, And should be converted, and I should heal them.”

I wonder how often God’s clear message to us gets scrambled by the damaged receptors of our hearts. He speaks plainly in his Word and through his Holy Spirit, but we hear something completely different and as crazy as what I thought I heard tonight. Had I said nothing in response, I would have gone through the entire evening wondering why our hostess was inviting us to lick her leg, but such an invitation was completely incongruous with her character. When we “have a message from the Lord,” we would do well to ask ourselves, “Is this in keeping with the character of God as revealed in Jesus Christ through the Holy Scriptures?” If not, we would also do well to double-check what we think we heard. It would save us much hurt or embarrassment. Neither our hostess nor God is inviting us to lick their legs.