Listen

Jeremiah 6:10 To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.

Most of us can hear, but we may not really be listening. Sometimes we are just too busy thinking about what we want to say. Perhaps we have our own agenda or we are just too hurried to stop and listen. We may have preconceived ideas about a person, culture or circumstance that causes us to become closed to what the Father is trying to show us and as a result be unable to see truth or possess understanding. When we close our hearts and ears to the Father truth becomes just an irritating noise to us. We miss a lot that way. We miss things that could change our lives, cause us to grow in maturity and gain wisdom, connect us to others, experience healing and ultimately, and most importantly, connect us deeply to Abba. In our pridefulness, we choose to remain "stiff necked".

In the Bible when YHVH refers to a stiff necked people it means that they are "stubborn," "untractable," and "not to be led." This term "stiff necked" is an agricultural term. When a man would plow, his plow was usually driven by two oxen. As the plowman required but one hand to guide the plow, he carried in the other an "ox-goad." This was a light pole, shod with an iron spike. With this he would prick the oxen upon the hind legs to increase their speed, and upon the neck to turn, or to keep a straight course when deviating. If an ox was difficult to control or stubborn, it was "hard of neck," or stiff-necked. This presented a huge problem for the plower and made it very difficult for any seed to be sown properly as he would have to fight the uncooperative ox. So, this figure was used in the Scriptures to express the stubborn, untractable spirit of a people not responsive to the guiding of their Elohim. Since the culture of that time was primarily an agricultural one, people could easily relate to the example YHVH was giving them in using the term "stiff necked".

Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers [did], so [do] ye.

I have heard many give sermons over the years about "those people" in the old testament and how "they" were stiff necked. I don't think we need to be throwing stones. Honestly, we are no different. We haven't "evolved" or become "enlightened" as many would claim. We are still doing our "own thing", just like those who came before us. We think we have all the answers and our destiny is in our hands. We keep an iron grip on what we "want" to believe, rather than what is true. If anything I really think we have become more "stiff necked" in recent decades than any generation that came before us. It seems more and more people dismiss the wisdom and direction of a Holy Elohim in favor of worldly and selfish pursuits. They will listen to any new cat on the scene with a "fresh perspective" and it doesn't matter if this individual considers or twists the Word of YHVH. How would they know anyway, they don't "listen" or even know what the Word says? They are doing their "own thing" or a "new thing".

Luke 16:15 He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.

Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD ponders the hearts.

In the scope of the sheer magnitude of this vast universe that God has created......teeny, tiny, little men (and women) still shake an angry fist at a Holy and All Powerful Creator. Like the ox we fight against the goad, and wonder why we are unable to walk a straight line! We certainly don't want to listen to the Plower of the field. It would be rather comical if it wasn't so sad. We truly oppose ourselves in the worst possible ways because we have a really BIG Abba that loves us and wants the best for us. We are more than just ox to Him, but we behave in a manner that is so below us and what He created us for. In doing so we do great damage, to ourselves, others and our world.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,  And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

I look back and I see that suffering that I experienced was a useful tool or "ox goad" in the hands of my Abba in my life. I don't blame Him for my suffering for I alone bear the responsibility of my choices and the consequences of them. I personally was pretty full of myself and on a path of eminent destruction. I thought I had all the answers and was the master of my own destiny, in my human imagination. Without the sting of the goad I would have destroyed myself and hurt others in my path. Rather than ask why I had to suffer I now ask why it took so long for my pride to be overcome. I now see the merit of suffering in my own life, though I would never want to entertain it again. The pain of my own choices was a faithful teacher that I finally received instruction from and it led me from a path headed towards certain death to a path heading towards life, toward my Savior. Further down the road, with the pain in my rear view mirror, I am now grateful for those experiences. I never want to forget where I came from. It reminds me how far He has brought me and it keeps my feet on the ground. I am nothing without Him.

Father, forgive me, when I entertain thoughts of any sufficiency apart from you. Help me to not just hear you, but really LISTEN.

Many blessings to you!