Listening and Hearing

"We have a need to feel appreciated for who we really are on the inside." Kathy Spampinato

Sometimes if feels like no one is really listening! You are trying to be clear and communicate what you are feeling, but they are not hearing you. You desire to share what is on your heart, but the other person is only listening on the surface. It is like they are impatient and saying, “Yeah, I’ve got it”. They are too busy with their own thoughts and their own lives to really hear you. Whether you’re sharing an impactful moment, a painful memory, or a joy you’ve experienced, they are not looking deeply into your eyes without distraction. Still, you desire to be heard and understood.

Friendships are not always easy, yet we search for deep caring connection. We have a need to feel appreciated for who we really are on the inside. We are filled with frustration if a person hears the words we say, but is somehow disconnected from the deep meaning behind them. We long to be understood. We long to be truly known and loved. Someone has to know and understand your heart, for you to be really accepted for who you are.

Most people continue to search for the person who will truly love them. They continue to put themselves out there, looking for understanding, whether it is in a friendship or a romance. We may have found the one, or settled for the close enough, but we still have a deep need to feel understood and known. It is part of the human experience. There is a deep contentment in receiving the gift of understanding from someone else.

Matthew 13:9 ESV “He who has ears, let him hear.”

Mark 8:18, 21 ‘Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? And he then said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” ‘

Jesus showed the apostles His love, and His miracles and they still didn’t get it. It is a powerful realization, that Jesus has felt this way too. He poured His heart out for three years and those that were the closest still didn’t understand. He really does know how that feels. He sees us, and He does listen to our heart.

I find it interesting that this communication thing, is a two-way street. God desires for us to have ears to hear what He is saying, just as we desire to be seen and heard. Let’s not forget that the Lord is the lover of our soul. He has walked with us through every trying moment and every trauma of our lives. We might not have recognized it, but He was there. Have we stopped to listen to that still small voice that is speaking to our heart and soul?

1 John 1:5-7 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

When many of Jesus’ followers turned away from Him, he turned to the twelve disciples and asked,

John 6:67b “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

So, my friends, let’s truly understand that Jesus is the Holy One who hears our prayers and knows our dreams and our pain. He has ears to hear our hearts and understand. He is also the one who knows the beginning and the end. He will lead us and guide us by the Holy Spirit, so we can walk in His ways, and know His love intimately. He can heal and restore. He strengthens and comforts. God is the strength of our lives. Let’s run to Him for the love and understanding we truly seek.

Jeremiah 29:12-14a “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places...”