The message or the messenger?

Listen as Wisdom calls out! Hear as understanding raises her voice! “I call to you, to all of you! I raise my voice to all people. You simple people, use good judgment. You foolish people, show some understanding. Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right, for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception. My advice is wholesome. There is nothing devious or crooked in it. My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with knowledge. (Proverbs 8:1, 4-9)

Listen. Hear. Two very distinct commands, but two very interwoven actions. One must listen to hear, but one may not learn until they have truly heard. We might think God's Word is hard to truly understand, but he is calling out to us from its pages, willing us to just listen and learn of his goodness, grace, and love. Understanding is gained from time spent listening and allowing our hearts to truly 'hear' his instruction. The wise will listen with the intention of hearing. The fool will have listened but will not truly hear what is being spoken.

God's words are plain to anyone with understanding and clear to those who 'want to' learn. It is the 'want to' that we struggle with so many times, isn't it? When we lack the 'want to', we often lack the hearing part of this instruction. What has God been saying to us? What have we refused to truly 'listen to' so as to really 'hear'? We might just find it is the 'repeated stuff' that is what we have refused to listen to! Those are the lessons we most need to learn but have 'shut off' our hearing toward them. We will often start learning again once we acknowledge we stopped listening a long way back!

The words we hear today may seem a little bit overwhelming. If God could use a donkey to speak to a man, what makes us think he wouldn't use an unbeliever, or a prideful man to speak to us these days? God can use anyone to teach a lesson - even the prideful man who doesn't have faith in God. God can bring a message through any messenger - we need to be open to hearing, though. Even the worst message carries a lesson - we just have to listen and learn. The lesson we learn may be to do the exact opposite of what the message says for us to do. Even what some label as a 'negative message' can carry a great lesson for those who want God's understanding and take the time to get it! Just sayin!