I’ve always been fascinated by animals. In elementary school, my free reading books were often about various wildlife species. I still love animals and appreciate now more than ever their incredible diversity and the ingenuity and incredible wisdom of the One who created them.
A while back, I learned of strange little critters from Southeast Asia that I had never heard of before. Tarsiers are the smallest known primates at only 4-6 inches in length and weighing in at less than 6 ounces. These shy nocturnal creatures were certainly the inspiration for the 1982 alien movie star, E.T., for they look very much like him with huge eyes and small ears. In addition, they have long slender fingers with large knuckles and fingertips, and rear legs that are twice the length of their bodies for jumping from branch to branch to catch the insects they call lunch.
One of the most interesting aspects that researchers have recently discovered regarding these animals is their super-high-pitched vocalizations. For years, scientists thought they were simply yawning or performing some other unknown behavior when they opened their mouths widely for no apparent reason. We now know that they are actually communicating with each other by ultrasounds of 70 kilohertz or higher. Our human ears are unable to detect sounds in this range, and these vocalizations are among the highest of any land mammal. All the while, these little guys have been talking back and forth right in front of us, and no one ever knew it.
These tiny creatures can teach us something about our God as well. Sometimes people claim that God doesn’t exist because they’ve never seen Him or that He doesn’t speak because they’ve never heard Him. Perhaps the problem all along is not on His end, but on ours. When listening for God, we must listen on the faith frequency and tune our hearts to discern His voice. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Indeed, He does.
In addition, we sometimes fail to hear Him because of too much background noise. In the Psalms, God gives us an important tip for hearing His voice. He says, “Be still and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10(NIV). Far too often, instead of being still, we are moving at the frantic pace of life. It’s important to take some Sabbath, or rest time, to just sit quietly without radio, TV, social media, internet, or iPad, and just listen to God. By reading His Word and inviting Him to speak, we initiate a process whereby we can perceive His presence and enjoy His Divine company.
Like the Tarsier, it’s amazing what you hear from God when you listen in the right way. The next time we’re tempted to believe God’s not there, let us remember this tiny animal and tune our hearts to hear His voice.
George Bowers – CBC Executive Board
