Hear > Listen > Understand

Debbie Gabbara

 

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” Revelation‬ 2:29‬ NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

 

I think we would agree that there can be a vast difference between hearing and listening. John ends his letter to the church at Thyatira with a reminder to all of us to hear what the Spirit says and to listen closely to what Jesus is saying through the Revelation to John.

 

“Anyone with ears” is you and me! One definition for the word hear is to hear what someone is saying. That sounds a little redundant. When searching the Bible, I found verse after verse that tells of hearing God. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing.” The writer in Psalm 85 pleads, “Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people.”

 

We all want to hear God speaking to us. Mark 4:24 says, “Pay attention to what you hear.” Luke 11:28 says that those who hear the Word of God and keep it are blessed. We want peace in our lives and we want God’s blessings, but we will only hear God if we are listening in the quiet places of our hearts.

 

Listening is different than hearing. Listening is to hear something with thoughtful attention. Listening is quite different than just hearing. How many times in your life has someone asked you the question, “Did you hear me?” The thought in your head was, “Yes, but I do not have any idea what you said.” I know there have been far too many times in my life when I heard but did not listen.

 

Philippians 4:9 (NIV) says, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Matthew 7:24 (NIV) tells us, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and put them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

 

Like the Christians in Thyatira, we live in a world that is filled with false teachers and evil. Jesus encouraged the believers at Thyatira, and He encourages us to seek Him and remain loyal to Him until He returns. Truth is also all around us, we can be led to truth through a pastor or teacher and through studying the Word with other believers. Listening is receiving and God is always at work all around us.

 

Matthew 7:7 (NIV) adds, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” 

 

Hearing should lead to listening which results in understanding. To understand is to achieve a grasp of the nature, significance, or explanation of something. Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV) says. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

 

Here in Revelation chapter 2, Jesus asks us to seek Him and hold tightly to the truth of the Gospel until He comes. God promises us understanding. He helps us to hear His voice through prayer, reading, and studying Scripture and then listen with the thoughtful intention for instruction from the Spirit and receive that into our hearts and minds.

 

God promises in Psalm 32:8 (NIV), “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”