I can hear you now.

Recently I learned that I have a moderate hearing loss. It is just enough to make background noise a real nuisance. If I am listening to a speaker, competing conversations and other noises are more than annoying. If I am trying talk to someone, those same competing sounds make me shout because I can't discern what I should pay attention to. I will soon be evaluated and fitted for proper hearing aids. I've been made to understand that there are all kinds tools available to improve hearing.
It seems to be the same with parents and children. Teens slam their doors to get heard. Preschoolers fall on the floor in complete indignation. Then parents go off the ledge, totaling forgetting the original point. Maybe I'm the only one. As we seek or pursue satisfaction in life, often we allow distracting and competing noises that keep us from hearing God. The Lord allows pointed situations  to get our attention by removing distracting and competing noises. Sometimes we slam the different doors to areas of our lives to make our point heard. Some turn to chemicals, or other self-destructive behaviors to be heard. Unlike earthly parents, God never loses sight of the original need or message. He knows which tools are needed to help us. The Lord is passionate and long-suffering with us until He hears us say, 
I can hear you now.
Don't know what took me so long.