Listening versus Hearing

"You have seen many things, but you pay no attention; your ears are open, but you do not listen." Isaiah 42:20 (NIV)

"...but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.  But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward."  Jeremiah 7:23-24 (NIV)

When I was writing the blog the other day about noises, I started to write about listening versus hearing and decided that could be a post in itself.  So here we are.

I think about this a lot when I talk with Jay or when the kids are telling me a long, drawn-out story.  Jay hears me rambling on, and I hear my kiddos talking, but are either one of us actually listening?  This is obvious in situations where all of a sudden, in the midst of a conversation, you or someone else blurts out, "Wait, what did you just say?"  You caught one phrase that really jerked you back into reality and are now lost.  I've been on both sides of this for sure.

I tease Jay because I know that he hears me, he just tunes me out.  That's okay.  I have a tendency to talk a little too much (I get it honestly), and sometimes what I'm carrying on about is nothing he is interested in.  I must admit (just don't tell Jay) that when he starts in on the subject of the pigs, sometimes I zone out myself.  I know the subject matter, I just am skipping over all the details in his recitation.  Jay does this little thing where he'll say, "When Sarah starts talking, all I hear is blah-blah, blah-blah- blah..."  And actually, I don't doubt that that is all he picked up.

What will really put you in your place is when your kids call you out on it.  That is the worst.  If my sweet boy is in the right mood, he can drag out a story for 15 minutes.  He's so dang cute, but sometimes you almost have to pull the words out of his crooked teeth because he is so slow...and of course, I'm in too much of a hurry.  Ahh.  Shameful.  Madolyn is a different story because she's at that age where I actually would like her to talk to me, tell me something, anything about what happened at school today and I'd be eager to listen.

And isn't it something when you can ask your kids (in that motherly tone) to pick up their socks or coat off the floor, they don't 'hear' you (even though you're in the same room), but by golly, you mention going to Dairy Queen later for ice cream to your husband in very hushed tones, and their little ears perk right up. 

This might be a scary thought to those of you who don't quite understand the court reporting world, but there are many times that I'm not 'listening' in court.  I am hearing everything, and I'm (somehow) taking everything that's being said down, but I have no idea what is going on.  I can be thinking about what I'm going to make for supper, what I need to get at Walmart, etc, and still get every word being spoken in the courtroom.  Bizarre, I know. 

There have even been a few times I have zoned out and then kind of jumped (as if waking up) to realize I have no idea if I have been taking down anything because I can't remember what is going on.  Thankfully, I can look at my screen or my little laptop that I'm hooked up to and find that, yes, I was actually getting it.  Isn't our subconscious an amazing thing?

How about in church?  Do you ever kind of 'check out' of the sermon?  Ahh, no one wants to admit it, but we've all done it.  Your mind drifts off to another place.  You hear the preacher's voice, but you aren't retaining anything he's God's saying.  Can't you just imagine what God is thinking about this?  She is in the sanctuary, I see her sitting there, her eyes are open, but her gaze is blank.  She hears what the preacher is saying her, but is she listening to any of it?  Will she go out and make disciples of men?  Will she feed the poor or take care of the orphans and widows? Will she tell others that Jesus is alive and coming again?  Or will she only hear what she wants to hear and do her own thing, things in her comfort zone?

What if God gave the same attention to me that I gave to him when He is speaking?  What if God only heard our prayers and wasn't really listening to them?  Yikes, I don't like the 'sound' of that at all...