Ears To Hear

When I was volunteering as a youth leader at church I watched the youth pastor as he delivered his weekly message to the high school kids. It had to be frustrating for him. No one was listening. Some were doing homework on a table off to the side. Others, their faces all aglow, lit up by their phone screens as they texted with friends. No one seemed to be paying any attention at all.

We adults were the ones who weren't paying attention.

The youth of today are pretty darn smart. Pretty attentive too. Despite outward appearances they retain more information than I did when I was a kid. And they are bombarded with so much of it. Social media, television, movies, school activities, homework . . . there are plenty of things to distract them. It's a wonder anything gets through to them at all.

A year or so ago I was helping a young adult work through some personal issues. Her best friend had committed suicide, her boyfriend was in jail, her parents both had issues and she dropped out of school.

If you think that was pretty depressing you'd be right . . . and she was. That's why the text I received the other night meant so much. The text said both she and her boyfriend were going back to school to get their high school GED. I almost fell over.

I vaguely remember to help them, our financially if they would go back to school. They never responded. I figured, "Oh, well" but then the text asking if I'd still like to help.

"ABSOLUTELY!!"

Kids don't miss a thing. Be careful what you say. Ha ha! But more importantly, know that people are listening even when you think they're not. God gave them ears to hear and they're using them.

It seems like it might be hard to be heard in a world with so many distractions. People hear. It's just that sometimes they don't listen. Speak with your heart and others will hear your words. But when someone listens with their heart, then you have something. :)

"43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" - Matthew 13:43

With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear - Sleeping With Sirens