Most of us often tend to hear a matter but fail to listen or heed the message being given. It’s so easy to overlook the message or to hear what we want to hear.
Take the example of God’s dealing with Judah. He has given us countless examples of their experiences which we should learn from.
Jeremiah chapter 29. This experience occurred some time after the first wave of captives following the first Babylonian capture of Jerusalem around 597 B.C. Jehoiachin was deposed after three months on the throne; and the puppet king Zedekiah, an uncle of his, was installed as the vassal king of his overlord the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar.
The false prophets were busy spreading the falsehood that the captivity would shortly end; Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) would be restored, and all the vessels of the temple would be restored to Jerusalem. In the preceding chapter, 28, this was the message of Hananiah, son of the prophet, Azur, who had promised all of these wonderful things would take place in a mere couple of years, according to what he had heard, “in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests.” It was a false prophecy. The people were hearing what they wanted to hear
However, it was not the will of God that Israel’s captivity should be over within so short a time as the false prophecy. Yet it is easy to understand why the false prophets believed that the captivity would soon end. There remained in the person of Zedekiah a representative of the house of David on the throne in Jerusalem; the temple still stood, despite the robbing of many of its treasures; and upon these grounds, people imagined that the complete independence of Judah might soon be restored.
But God was not listening to the desires of Judah. Why? Judah was not listening to Him. When God says something, you simply cannot go against His will. That’s a lesson all of us need to learn and accept.
God had ordained and commanded the captivity of Judah as a punishment upon the rebellious, apostate nation; it was God’s intention to humble and discipline his people and bring them at last to an acceptable relationship to Himself. He said nothing about the captivity being short…it was going to be long.
Verse 4. “Thus, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.”
Jeremiah, in this letter, told Judah to get used to living in exile—build houses, get married, live normal lives, and even pray for their foreign land.
Judah didn’t heed the warning; the people wanted to resist and to assume that exile would end soon. They, like many of us, don’t want to go through challenging times.
The message here is whatever your situation, make the best use of it. Whatever is God’s will for you, accept it. Yes, you can question it if you want, but you should accept and believe that God oversees your life.
I want us to consider this because it could be one of the reasons why God doesn’t listen to us sometimes. What we are asking for is not his will. He has a plan for all of us, individually and collectively as the Body of Christ.
Jerm. 29:11. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Once we recognize His will in our life, then He’s always listening to us. When we pray He hears our prayers. He answers them, too, every one of them. His answers are according to His will, not according to our desires. Let’s understand that. God is not a fairy godmother or genie to grant every wish that we have, even those that can harm us.
When are we going to stop complaining to God when He does not grant us our wishes? When are we going to listen to Him even when He answers our call? A prayer is like a telephone call to a friend; communication is a two-way street. Both people at the end of line are listening to each other. The same way with God; you ask or tell Him something, He listens and responds. But somehow when He responds we are not listening because it’s not what we want to hear.
He told Judah its captivity would be 70 years, and then they’d return to Jerusalem. But they were not listening to God; instead, they were listening to the false prophets. And what were the false prophets doing? They were telling them what they wanted to hear – the captivity would be short-lived.
Is it any wonder, people flock to certain churches today? The preacher is telling them exactly what they want to hear…oftentimes it’s not the truth of God’s words.
Have no doubt about this. God listens and hears our cries. We are the ones not listening to his answer
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