My wife and I have lived in at least two places where there was a lot of environmental noise. Our first apartment was next to a bus stop on a busy metropolitan street. Later we lived in a house that backed up to a railroad line. Visitors always noticed the noise and commented about it. But after a short time in each place we were able to ignore and tune out these outside noises.
I think that we all become good at tuning out the noises we don’t like, so that we can hear the noises that we want to hear. We are successful at tuning out surrounding conversations and music played over the sound system in order to hear the voices of people sitting at our table in a restaurant.
However, we need to be careful about what we tune into and what we tune out. For instance, we probably want to hear what our spouse is saying while tuning out a loud neighbor.
Hebrews 3:7-8 says, “Today you must listen to his (God’s) voice. Don’t harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested God’s patience in the wilderness.” We must listen carefully to every word God speaks to us, through the Bible, through circumstances, through godly friends, and by His Spirit within us. Every time we ignore or reject His voice, we tune Him out a little more. Eventually we will not hear Him when He speaks to us, like how we were able to tune out the trains and busses. By doing this, we will effectively harden our hearts to God’s voice. Saying “maybe” or “later” to God is not acceptable to Him. Only an immediate submissive response is what He desires.
Reluctant Retiree 