Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Selective hearing is not just something that men do to their wives. (Sorry, husbands, if I have just given away your secret!) Selective hearing is done by almost everyone, either consciously or unconsciously. There is so much information coming at us today, that we must do this at an unprecedented rate. We can’t listen to everything.
We can also tune out things that don’t fit with the way we see the world. We stop listening to certain news sources because they are “biased,” but all human communication is biased. Bias is just the means by which we filter content. You can’t give all the information all the time. We would get frozen in a time-loop that would only encompass a few moments being told over and over until everyone got every bit of information.
So we end up shortening, filtering and then telling the story with the point we want to make being told. We often notice this when one member of a couple is telling the story and the other half interrupts and adds details, or corrections to the plot line. The original teller of the story left out parts of the story because they didn’t think they were necessary for their point to be heard.
Unfortunately, we often quote Bible passages in the same way. We leave out vital details, details which when heard put the passage in a totally different light and meaning. This can be very unfortunate. If often short circuits the full and rich meaning of the LORD’s plans and purposes for us.
Take as an example the Scripture quoted above. This verse is often quoted in a way that implies that the LORD just wants us to bless us, regardless of circumstances. The way we quote it seems to put the LORD on the hook for blessing us, obligating Him to get us out of the mess.
But this promise of blessing is in the middle of the pronouncement that 70 years of exile await the rebellious Judah. Seventy years of being away from their land and the blessing of the LORD on that land and people. Seventy years is a long time!
And this promise of blessing is AFTER they have endured captivity and separation from the Land of Promise. They are not promised deliverance from the trials of captivity immediately, as some quote this verse. In fact, many who heard this promise would not even get the opportunity to experience the promise’s fulfillment. They will have died in captivity.
And another thing, part of the requirement for receiving this type of blessing when they return is that change of their heart’s attitude. This is what the LORD was pushing for all along. Their hearts had become corrupt and consequently they worshipped idols. The disobeyed the most fundamental of God’s commands. And as a result, Babylon was given the right to conquer them and carry out God’s retribution on them.
You see, the LORD is always about changing our heart. This is the story of the whole Bible, beginning to end. God made a good world. Humanity spoiled the goodness and rejected the LORD’s rule over them. The LORD promises restoration, and humanity rejects His good plan. But the LORD’s plan comes to a culmination in Jesus, who completely fulfills all the requirements of God’s world. And now in Jesus we can live a new kind of life, a life of blessing and fulfillment. God does the work and we receive the blessing. We respond to Him and He changes us. This is the story of the Scriptures that gets replayed in every text.
So, are you allowing the LORD to work on your heart?
The Arnold Journey 