As newlyweds we lived in a third-floor apartment. One floor below us lived a fellow who liked to play an electric guitar which boomed through the walls and floor, posing a definite distraction. It was one of those features of sharing a roof that made us eager to buy a house, a feat we we thankfully achieved within a few years.
Later, we were blessed to live in a quiet neighborhood for two decades when aviation authorities at a local airport decided (for reasons unknown to us) to reroute air traffic right over our homes. Some neighbors got up in arms (and it is annoying, especially when a big propeller aircraft flies over after we’ve gone to bed.) But I finally realized being angry wouldn’t change anything, it would just make things worse. Overall, we have gotten used to it and it’s not constant or unbearable.
While our brains have an amazing ability to filter out irrelevant sounds, some noise we may find harder to ignore, such as what people say about us. Words from King Solomon remind me of the importance of selective listening: Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you (Ecclesiastes 7:21). He goes on to point out that we all have spoken critically of others. The same author exhorts us elsewhere, Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life (Proverbs 4:23 NLT).
We can allow a total stranger’s imagined opinion to cause us needless distraction, as I foolishly did twice in the past week. I was actually fretting over what someone meant by putting an ellipsis “…” at the end their typed reply! Have you ever spent hours obsessing over what someone said, or what you think they believe about you? Who cares? Why should another’s arbitrary opinion carry any weight at all?
Some things are worth listening to, though. Christians are to walk by faith and not by sight, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word (Romans 10:17). In Luke 8, Jesus exhorts us to pay attention to how we listen to and receive the Word, so it sinks in and we take appropriate action.
Jesus assured us His sheep hear His voice, and they follow Him (John 10:27). His opinion is the only one that matters, and He has nothing bad to say about you. He has forgiven you for every sin, past, present, and future, so He’s not focused on your faults. He wants you to discover what you have and who you are in Him! Instead of letting the devil fill your mind with vain imaginations that bring anxiety, steal your time, and drain your energy, occupy it with truth and with thoughts of higher things (Philippians 4:8).
