Hearing the Voice of the Lord, by President Chipman

Can I share something I learned a couple of months ago while thinking about the scriptures? I realize you may already know this. But, by sharing with you, I acknowledge and thank God for teaching me something that, to me, is important.

I have read 3 Nephi 11 a gazillion times. But a couple of months ago, I saw something for the first time.

We know that, at the beginning of this Chapter 11, Heavenly Father introduced Jesus Christ three times. Why? Because it took three times for the people to understand what He was saying. In the past, I presumed that the first time, Heavenly Father´s voice was too quiet to be heard, the second time, a little stronger, and the third time, strong enough to hear. In other words, I thought that the strength of Heavenly Father’s voice (the loudness of the voice) was stronger each time.

I do not think that anymore. I think Heavenly Father used the same voice, with the same strength, the same loudness, the same words, the same power, all three times, no difference. The difference was not the strength of His voice or the clarity of His voice. The difference was how the people received His message.

When the people His voice the first time, "as if it came out of heaven," they felt something powerful. But they could not understand the message. Why? Because "they cast their eyes round about" them--or, put another way, they tried to understand the voice by looking to earthly things, for an earthly context. This is a natural reaction. We would do the same. They tried to understand the voice by looking to each other and "round about" them. But this exercise did not help them understand the voice.

The scriptures do not tell us much about the second time they heard the voice. We know they heard the voice but, still, could not understand the message.

The third time, however, was different. This time, they really focused. They "opened their ears to hear" the message. And, instead of focusing on an earthly context to understand the message, they directed their eyes, "towards the sound thereof." In fact, "they looked steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came." By intentionally and affirmatively doing these things—opening their ears to hear, directing their eyes toward the sound, looking steadfastly toward heaven (not round about them)—they understood the voice, finally.

Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,

in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him

I love the connotations of what I learned. For His part, Heavenly Father did not give up or get angry when the people did not understand Him the first time they heard His message. He understood that, because of their mortal context and challenges, they may need to hear His message a second time, or a third time, or a fourth time, or a twentieth time. He knew they needed some practice to understand His words. So, He spoke patiently and consistently until the people adjusted their ears and focused their gaze in His direction.

For our part, we cannot understand His voice using an earthly context. We have to focus our gaze on him and discern Him spiritually (2 Corinthians 2:14). And we cannot understand His voice lazily. We must open our ears to hear and focus our gaze on the source of His voice. We must take affirmative action—we must be intentional—to understand His message. He will patiently wait for us to do it.