“Sorry. What did you say?” I rubbed my ears trying to convince them to cooperate.

My husband looked over from in front of the mirror where he was combing his hair. “I was telling you about the news article I read.”

“Okay. I caught that it is good news, but I missed the last bit you said because my ears are still plugged.”

“Your appointment to remove the earwax is coming soon, right?”

“Yes, It’s tomorrow,” I replied, then tugged at my ear. “It’s worse in the mornings for some reason. Thankfully this ear normally pops so I can hear, but the other stays plugged.”

The following afternoon I waited in the doctor’s office with my kids in tow. The doctor’s assistant brought a container of supplies, including spray bottles with hoses and nozzles attached.

Then my doctor came in.

She addressed me in her usual cheerful manner. “Take a seat up on the bed, please.”

Once I was perched on the bed, she checked my ears with her otoscope.

“The wax is still there. Have you been using the olive oil like I told you to?”

“Yes.”

Nearly every night for the past two weeks I had used a special tool to spray olive oil into my ear to soften the wax.

“Okay. Here, hold this under your ear.” She passed me a rectangular open-topped tub to hold just below my ear.

I wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but I complied.

My doctor then picked up a spray bottle, and held the nozzle in my ear. She squeezed the spray bottle handle.

A gush of cool water squirted into my ear. The force of it surprised me, but I didn’t move.

She squeezed the handle again and again and again.

Water poured back out of my ear into the container I was holding.

The force and volume of the water bursting into my ear was startlingly powerful. I would have been alarmed if water entered my ear with such force at a swimming pool, but I decided to trust my doctor who stood there calmly squeezing the handle again.

She squeezed it again and again until I felt nearly overwhelmed.

At long last she stopped.

Setting aside the spray bottle, she peeked in the water in the container I held under my ear. “It’s out. You had a lot in there.”

She dumped the water in the sink and the earwax in the garbage, then handed the container back to me for the other ear.

As with the first side, she inserted the nozzle of the spray bottle and sprayed and sprayed and sprayed.

I was thankful when she stopped.

She peeked in the container again. “It worked. You had a lot of earwax in that side too.”

I felt somewhat disoriented, like my ears were still under water.

As she put the tools away, she commented, “You must have followed my instructions to do the olive oil for two weeks. You would be surprised how many people don’t. Then when they come in I have to fight to get the earwax out. It was easy for you.”

“I’m glad it worked,” I replied.

I thanked her as we left.

My ears were still wet, but starting to dry. By the time we got back to our vehicle, it felt more like a normal “I have water in my ears” feeling.

My kids’ voices were notably louder as I buckled them up. Apparently I had been having more trouble hearing than I had realized.

Sliding into the driver seat, I still felt somewhat disoriented from the procedure. I decided a snack might help.

I reached for a granola bar.

As my hand touched the wrapper, the deafening crinkly sound startled me. It was so loud!

I couldn’t remember it having been such a loud and distinct sound for, well… for a very long time.

I had known I had been having trouble hearing, which I had suspected was due to too much earwax, for a few months. However, I had no idea it had been so bad!

As I continued throughout my day and into the rest of the week, I kept finding other things that made shockingly loud sounds – water being poured into a glass, a creaky chair, a plastic bag, autumn leaves under foot…

The appointment had been on a Thursday. By Sunday, I was mostly adjusted to being able to hear again.

That morning, at church, I was delayed in the nursery dropping off my baby. By the time I headed towards the sanctuary, the worship team was already playing.

As I stepped into the sanctuary, I almost faltered. The music was so loud! Had someone cranked up the volume this morning?

No one else appeared to think anything was out of the ordinary, so I proceeded to find my seat beside my husband.

Once I got used to the volume, I marveled at how much easier it was to sing and engage now that I could hear more fully. How wonderful to worship God with His children.

All this got me thinking. I knew there must be an allegory here.

I believe the lesson for me is this: in my walk with Jesus, I need to make sure my spiritual ears are not plugged.

The Bible talks a lot about hearing God and, in response, obeying.

“My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27 CSB)

“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22 CSB)

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Mat. 7:24 CSB)

The Bible also speaks of how we can choose to plug our ears rather than listening to God.

“But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear. They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the Lord of Armies had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore intense anger came from the Lord of Armies.” (Zechariah 7:11-12 CSB)

Sometimes I might realize my spiritual ears are plugged, like that morning with my husband when I knew he was talking to me but couldn’t catch what he was saying.

What I didn’t realize was that, even when I thought my ears were unplugged, my hearing was still muffled and dull.

Surely there are times when my spiritual ears are dull, but I think everything is fine.

Likely it is distraction and/or undealt with sin that makes my hearing dull (similar to Hebrews 12:1-2).

So how do I deal with this? How do I clear the wax from my ears?

Well, for my physical ears, it started with a trip to the doctor.

She checked my ears to identify that earwax was indeed the problem. It was then that she gave me a practical task to do. I was to put that olive oil in my ears daily for two weeks.

When I returned for my follow up appointment two weeks later, the doctor was the one who flushed my ears out.

For the analogy, God is the doctor. I must go to Him to ask for help with my ears.

If God gives me a practical next step, I must be diligent to do it. This could be committing to daily Bible reading or faithful church attendance, or asking a trusted friend, pastor, or Christian counselor for prayer and advice. Alternatively it may be something very specific that God calls me to do.

Then, as I walk in obedience, I can ask God to do what only He can do by clearing the earwax from my ears.

Only once God has cleared my ears, can I respond more fully than ever before in worshipping my Lord!

Today, may I ask God to give me clear sharp ears, and may I be faithful to do all that He has asked me to do.