"Hey Doc, I think my wife may be having trouble with her hearing," said the concerned husband, "What can I do?" The specialist replied, "Try this. Go home tonight and wait until she's doing the dishes and ask her a question from about 15 feet away. If she doesn't respond, move closer until she hears you." The man went home and waited for just the right time. From the living room, he heard his wife starting the dishes and asked, "Honey, what's for supper?" No response. Concerned, he moved into the kitchen, "Hey honey bun, what's for supper tonight?" No response. With a bit of pity, he moved right up behind her and said a little louder, "Sweetheart what's for supper tonight?" His wife replied, "For the third time, we're having chicken!"
At any random time you enter my home, you will likely hear, "Huh?", "What'd you say?", "Ma'am?", "But, I thought you said...", or my personal favorite, "Well, I heard you, but I thought you meant...." As an observer, you have an advantage. You can view the situation, as an un-biased party and make a judgment call on whether you think the miscommunication came in the delivery or the reception. Regardless, it seems to me that there's a hearing problem. Sometimes it's in the delivery, but most of the time it's in the reception. In the case of reading through the Bible, we get to somewhat "observe" the people of Israel while they are delivered a message.
Now I like this guy, Elijah. He's smarted off a bit to the people for questioning a false god about whether the king will die from his injuries (caused by falling out of his terrace window, but that's another story), so Elijah's up on that hill waiting on the next move. He doesn't have to wait long. It seems that the prophet is generally un-liked by the king, especially when he tells him he's going to die! The king sent a few groups to kill him, but God swallowed them up with fire from heaven. The mere fact that God continues to speak to His people through this prophet encourages my heart. He hasn't left them, He hasn't forsaken them. He continues to call them back to Himself through these men of God. But, God leaves the reception up to the people.....the king in this case. He didn't receive the message.
God sends the message again, this time through Elisha. Now, Elisha had mentored under Elijah for about 10 years. He had seen great miracles performed by God through is teacher, but doubted that God could ever use him that way. It's true, Elijah must have been special to have left this earth in a blazing chariot, but Elisha had much to learn yet. As he walked with God, the men of the city witnessed miracles and knew God was with this man. When Moab rebels against Israel, the kings of Judah and Israel get together for revenge. On their journey, they ran out of water in the desert for the army and for the animals and got desperate. Who do you call on when you are desperate? "Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?" Sure, funny you should ask.....enter, Elisha.
Each king is introduced or dismissed in this text by whether or not he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Did he receive the message when it was delivered, or not? ...in these instances, by a prophet?
We need to sharpen our listening skills. Practice talking to God, but especially practice listening. Have you ever wondered if God is hearing you? Have you ever thought maybe He's not answering until tomorrow sometime? In light of the opening illustration, I'm just asking you to consider that maybe He has already answered....and you just didn't receive the message. It's not a game or a test. God is waiting on you! He longs to talk with you! Get in His word! There's no code-word or secret password, just listen.
On a side note, I'm sure I'm the only one who has ever had a communication problem with her husband, but just in case I'm not, I'd like to offer some advice: You might want to have your hearing checked.
