Don’t you hate it when people don’t understand you?

Drives me crazy.

I work really hard at communication. When it falls short, I try, try again.

When people don’t understand what I’m saying or don’t respond to my message, I take it personally and strive to find another way to deliver what I have to say.

I think that’s the right thing to do.

Now, Jesus. He knew how to communicate.

Jesus knew methods of communication I can only dream of mastering. But did everyone respond the way He wanted them to respond?

No. The answer is no.

Did He freak out the way I do?

Again. No.

And not just because He’s God and I’m not. That’s the easy answer.

The OTHER reason is that He understood a secret I’m just beginning to embrace. Because of this, He was much more relaxed than I am.

The secret? Jesus knew that communication is as much about the hearer as it is about the speaker and some ears just refuse to hear.

It was a theme with Him. If He’d come to earth in modern times, it would have been been the sound-bite the media displayed under his image “Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

In fact, Jesus didn’t always even strive to make His message clear. Sometimes He obscured it on purpose, like when He told parables.

What communicator does that? A wise one.

Jesus knew that every message, no matter how it’s delivered, must fall upon a heart that is ready to receive it.

In the parable of the sower, the same sower and the same seeds reap different results depending on the soil into which they are sown and the circumstances surrounding the seeds’ growth.

Some people just will not hear. No matter how we say it. They will say they hear, but they won’t. They’ll hear the words but they won’t receive the message.

And, that’s on them.

It’s still our job to work at communicating. To fashion our communication for our audience. To be sure our efforts are powered, driven, and directed by prayer and built on the framework of Biblical truth. To remain faithful to communicating even when rejected.

But hearing is on them.

Jesus said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. No one trying to reach others for Jesus should collapse under the weight of the work.

Pray for those you love to have ears that can hear. Pray that their hearts will be fertile soil for the seed of the gospel. Keep speaking their language. Remain faithful.

But know that receiving the message is their work, not yours.

That’s really hard. I know. We’re control freaks – and we love them, so it hurts. But, that’s how it is.

Know this, though –

Jesus loves you. He sees you. He knows your love for Him and for others. He recognizes your passion for those who haven’t yet recognized who Jesus is.

He was relaxed because He knew who He was and He knows how all of this ends.

So rest in Him, loved one.

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1 Comment

The Conversation

1. Tim Danielson says:

   May 4, 2012 at 12:23 pm

   One of the harder lessons but well worth the investment needed to embrace it.

   Reply