Written by Scott Fiddler
The Word
15As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Acts 11:15–18
Reflection
Think about this. Jesus told His disciples to make disciples of all the nations (Matthew 28:19). Yet, here is Peter and the early church, several years later, and they still don’t get it. It takes divinely orchestrated visions and Gentiles manifesting gifts of the Holy Spirit for Peter and others to finally hear what Jesus told them years ago.
More than that, Peter thought he was honoring God by refusing to eat with or even enter the house of a Gentile. It wasn’t just that he was wrong; he had no idea he might be wrong. He was deceived, and he was devout in his deception. That’s a scary place to be, and it’s right to ask how we can avoid it.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
John 16:12
Jesus told His disciples there were things He wanted to tell them but they couldn’t “bear” them at that time. And apparently there were also things Jesus did tell them that they couldn’t bear. He spoke, but they didn’t hear.
Then there are several times in the Gospels where Jesus prefaces what He is going to say with the phrase, “He who has ears let him hear.” Jesus was warning His listeners that what He was saying would require an ability to hear that many of them would be unwilling or unable to exercise.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be the person Jesus can’t tell things to because I can’t hear Him.
That begs the question: What is it that makes us unable to hear?
Application
One of the greatest causes of being unable to hear is being unwilling to do. When we are unwilling to do what God might ask of us, we are less likely to hear what He is saying.
Jesus said it like this: “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God . . . .” John 7:17. In other words, our willingness to submit affects our ability to discern.
We are unwilling to share the gospel, so we never hear the Holy Spirit prompting us to share the gospel. We are unwilling to surrender control of our finances, so we never hear God telling us to give more generously. We are unwilling to admit we might be wrong, so we don’t hear God correcting us. Our heart is a filter for our ears.
Prayer
Lord, help me to always be willing in my obedience to You, so I will be able to hear You. Amen.
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