This was my guest blog post as it appeared on David’s Daily Dose a while back. If you don’t yet follow David, please do! His writing is always relevant, encouraging, and delivered with punch!

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At a visit to my husband’s work a while back he sat me in the recording studio, put headphones on my head, and said he wanted my opinion on something and could I have a listen? Sure I could! Testing, testing, 1..2..3! But the trouble was, a completely different thing was coming through my headphones compared to what he was hearing in his headphones! 

It was comical, but it’s a picture that reminds me that we’ve each been given a set of “spiritual headphones” and we’ll each hear different things as God speaks to our individual circumstances.  

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17). 

We can be inspired by other people’s faith. We can have role models or mentors. But faith comes by hearing God’s word to our own spiritual ears!   

Last year I battled cancer. I needed healing, so I devoured sermons and books on the topic but quickly realised that I wasn’t going to be able to rely on someone else’s faith formula or read a set of faith instructions to get me through it. I could glean certain principles, but ultimately I needed to know (and fast) where my own faith was at…what was God saying to me? Faith comes by hearing…so I needed to listen! 

Throughout the gospels, we read of how Jesus continually met people right where they were at with their faith. 

To one blind man he spat on his eyes in order to heal him (Mark 8:22-25), and to another blind man, He anointed his eyes with clay (John 9:6). In another instance, Jesus merely spoke the word to heal a blind beggar (Mark 10: 46-52) and in another instance, he healed two blind men by placing His hand over their eyes (Matt 9:27-30). All blind. Each one of them was a unique individual with unique needs that Jesus spoke to. They heard His word to them, they trusted with the faith they had, and they obeyed.    

I had to listen to what God was saying to me in my unique situation, and it’s the same for each of us whenever we face an obstacle, problem, or challenge. 

Listen. 

Trust. 

Obey. 

Isn’t it great how Jesus keeps it simple? 

Sermons, books, and the wonderful devotionals and blogs here on WordPress are tools that God can and does use to encourage, inform, inspire, and challenge us. He speaks to us through them. But let’s ensure we are also in prayer and reading the Word for ourselves. By doing so, we’ll ensure our spiritual headphones are in good working order! 

Testing, testing, 1…2…3!