Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

– C.S. Lewis

Here’s a story I found and loved while reading about today’s message. Being an employer, it really stuck with me:

“Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.

The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants in the waiting area. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake and would be disqualified.

Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”

The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!”

The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his.”

Have you ever wondered why God speaks to some and not others? Have you ever wondered why some people seem to effortlessly and easily understand the will of God? They just “get it,” while others continue to struggle to decipher even the simplest of messages. If you have wondered this, perhaps you’re asking the wrong question. God speaks to all of us, so the question is, why do some people not listen?

Believe me when I say I’ve been there. There have been multiple times when I’ve prayed and prayed and felt like I wasn’t getting an answer from God.

To be honest, I was getting an answer, but it really wasn’t the one I wanted. It didn’t fit into my current lifestyle or my future plans, so, I CHOSE not to listen. Instead I heard what I wanted to hear. It’s amazing how you can so easily tune God out and tune the rest of the world in.

So, how do we hear God? There are several ways. Through participating in his ministry, reading His word, listening to the Holy Spirit and your own guiding moral compass (your conscience), and through prayer. God presents us with countless opportunities to hear His voice. It’s really just a matter of priming the pump.

Are you ready and willing to listen?