“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches…” – Revelation 2:7 (ESV)
Seven times in Revelation, Jesus repeats this phrase: “He who has an ear, let him hear.” Having ears isn’t the same as truly hearing. Physical capacity isn’t the same as spiritual attentiveness.
I learned this distinction in the most desperate season of my life.
During my YWAM Bible school days in Barbados, a promise was made that was not fulfilled to help cover my fees. When that promise fell through, I had every reason to be angry, to give up, to go home defeated. Instead, I chose to keep praying and listening, as I walked early in the mornings. I was straining to hear God in the middle of my crisis.
And He responded in ways I still can’t fully explain. Finances kept coming from different directions, including strangers at churches I’d never visited before. They simply obeyed God and said to me, “This is for you.” They had no earthly idea about my needs. But they had listened to God as He spoke to them, and obeyed. I was the grateful recipient of their obedience.
That season taught me that listening isn’t passive. It requires positioning yourself to hear, and courage to respond to what you hear, even when the response costs you everything comfortable and is unfamiliar.
I learnt in Barbados to trust God’s voice, and I heard do not settle for the safe and steady. Go serve as a YWAM volunteer. So, when I was offered steady employment, a sensible, safe next step after everything I’d endured, I refused. The challenges taught me to trust God for His provision – not in a paycheck. Not security. I learnt obedience.
People were baffled. Some called it reckless. But I had learned in Barbados that God’s voice, once truly heard, demands a response, not just acknowledgment.
That “yes” to God thirty years ago launched a lifetime of faith-based ministry across multiple nations. Every provision, every unexpected gift, every open door has been another confirmation that when we truly listen, God speaks, and when we obey what we hear, He proves faithful.
The question remains for all of us: Are you hearing God, or just hearing about Him? Will you obey when He speaks or succumb to the “You’re crazy narrative?”
Prayer
Father, give me ears that truly hear not just sounds, but Your Spirit’s leading. Like the strangers who obeyed Your voice and blessed me when I was desperate, make me sensitive enough to hear and courageous enough to obey, whatever the cost, for every good gift comes from you. Thank You for every mysterious provision that taught me to trust Your voice. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Read: Proverbs 18:13; James 1:19
Bible Reading Guide: Proverbs 23:10-18; Galatians 6; Isaiah 49:8-26; Isaiah 50; Isaiah 51:1-16