My New Hearing Aid

“Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, the deaf receiving hearing, the dead receiving life; but we have not only received these blessings—we have received Christ Jesus Himself. It is true that He gave us life from the dead.” – C.H. Spurgeon

After months of tests, I was recently diagnosed with Meniere’s disease. It is a relatively rare inner ear disease that affects roughly 615,000 people in the United States, with 45,500 new cases being diagnosed each year. The main symptoms are severe hearing loss in one ear and debilitating vertigo attacks – accompanied by nausea and vomiting – that can last up to 12 hours.

Although Meniere’s is incurable, it can often be successfully managed to a degree. So far, thanks to Deanna’s online research, I have been greatly helped by taking a daily ginger and ginkgo biloba supplement. My ENT also prescribed a couple of prescriptions that I can take whenever I feel an attack coming on.

And yes, I finally gave in and got a hearing aid for my right ear… and what a difference it has made! I can now listen to TV at a normal volume and actually hear people talking to me when they are sitting or standing to my right (like Deanna in our car or at home, where her recliner sits to the right of mine).

When my audiologist first fitted me with my hearing aid, he asked me how it felt. I looked at him with a broad smile and said, “I can hear birds chirping 100 yards away!” A slight exaggeration, but not much. My new hearing aid (when I remember to wear it) has opened – or should I say reopened – a whole new world to me.

In like manner, coming to know Jesus as my Savior when I was 17 opened up a brand-new world to me. Instead of simply living in the physical realm, I am now plugged into the spiritual one. That momentous change has allowed me to better handle life’s challenges because I know that God is in complete and total control… not only of my life, but also of all creation.

Now that my spiritual eyes have been opened, I am seeing God working in my life 24/7. And now that my spiritual ears have been opened as well, I can hear His small, still voice leading me every step of the way through this life and preparing me for the next.

“Some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him. So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue. And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly.” Mark 7:32-35 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President