Devotion for today.

Did you hear the story about the Native American and his friend? They were in downtown New York City, walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour when the streets were jam-packed with people. On the streets cars were honking their horns, taxicabs were squealing around corners, and sirens were wailing. Basically the clamor of the city climate was ear-splitting. Suddenly, the Native American says, "I hear a cricket." His friend looks at him incredulously and says, "Excuse me? You must be nuts! How could anyone hear a cricket in the midst of all this crazy noise?"

"Nevertheless," the Native American said, "I know I heard a cricket."

"Whatever..." said his friend.

So the Native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and to his friend's great amazement, there was a small cricket.

"That's impossible!" exclaimed his friend. "You must have super-human hearing!"

"Not quite," said the Native American. "My ears are no different from yours. It just depends on what you're listening for."

"Maybe- but there's no way I would have heard a little bug in the middle of New York City" said the friend.

"That's because you don't care about crickets" said the Native American. "But I bet you would be amazed at what your ears can pick up when it's a priority. Here, let me show you."

He then reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and unnoticeably dropped them on the pavement. Amazingly enough, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if the money that jingled on the pavement was theirs.

"Get the point?" asked the Native American. "It all depends on what's important to you."

Have you ever thought about how God's voice can be as quiet and hard to hear as a bug in a bush? And not even a burning bush for that matter!

Why is that? Is He trying to play games with us? Why doesn't He send loud and clear messages that can't be missed?

Well speaking of the burning bush, the Israelites in Moses' day got plenty of "in your face" messages- and all that accomplished was the hardening of their hearts.

Our Jesus is a mystery, and He moves in mysterious ways. In fact, I would describe his method of communication as a game of hide and speak. He waits until you are at an incredibly busy and/or stressful time in your life, then secludes Himself and whispers in some obscure circumstance.

God wants to know that you desire to hear His precious voice, that your ears are attuned to spiritual things.

The problem is that most of us have our hearing dial set on the "all world-all the time" station. You know, the one that makes us feel good, is entertaining, has juicy bits of gossip, and most of all never challenges us in our attitudes and/or actions.

If that's you, I would suggest adding another station to your preset: the God channel...although it may not be what you expect:

"Go, stand on the mountain at attention before GOD. GOD will pass by." A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before GOD, but GOD wasn't to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but GOD wasn't in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but GOD wasn't in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper (I Kings 19:11-12)

Without the voice of the Almighty, your life will end up being a long and boring journey down noisy streets with no real meaning or purpose. You will fit into the category that Jesus mentioned when He was here on earth:

Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them (Matthew 13:14-15)

In order for you to hear Him, though, He must become supremely important. You must start looking for God anytime, anywhere. Here's the way God describes people that do that:

"But you have God-blessed eyes--eyes that see! And God-blessed ears--ears that hear!" (Matthew 13:16)

Remember, Christ doesn't live in a church- He dwells in your heart. So if you give your heart back to Jesus on a daily basis, I promise that you'll start running into Him everywhere you go!