Lessons from China: How to Listen Past the Noise

During my recent trip to China, I was struck anew by the beauty of Chinese characters.

And the seeming impossibility of reading them!

Here are some examples of some of the signs I saw there:

I mean–how can anyone actually learn to read these beautiful, but extremely complex characters!

But while I was there I began to notice some characters that appeared very often and my daughter (and her four-year-old son!) told me they meant:

big:

person:

and China:

When I started to pay attention, I made a tiny bit of progress in my understanding of Chinese.

It turns out that paying attention is the key to learning a new language, especially at the beginning.

My son-in-law told me of a phenomenon that he learned about when he was still in school in the U.S.

He said that if a person does not make a concerted effort to learn the language of the culture he is living in during the first 18 months of living in that culture, the mind will begin to interpret the language as noise. That person will of course, still hear the language spoken, but the mind will stop trying to make sense of it and simply file it under the category of senseless sound.

This got me thinking about God speaking to me. Often I complain I can’t quite hear God’s voice. I’m looking for direction, but I can’t seem to find it. I want Him to tell me His plan by writing it in the sky or blasting it on the car radio.

But could it be that I’m not understanding God’s words to me because I have been ignoring His voice for awhile? He’s been whispering in my ear, but I have been too busy to really pay attention, so my mind begins to interpret His words as noise in my head?

Isaiah 28:23 says:

Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.

I must admit that there are days when I read my Bible, but I don’t really pay attention to God’s voice. The words enter my eyes, my brain understands the letters on the page, but my heart doesn’t hear the message.

I do better when I prayerfully read God’s word, stopping periodically in my reading to ask questions like:

• “What are You trying to teach me Lord?”
• “What do You want me to do with this message?”
• “How can these words change my heart?”

When I truly take time to listen, I hear God’s voice. I can hear His words of grace. His message of love echoes louder in my heart.

Next step: What do you do to pay attention to God’s voice? When you settle down to read His Word, ask yourself the three questions above and record your answers.