There are many voices in our ears today. This has always been the case but some of them are so invasive and omnipresent that we find it impossible to turn them off. The various Social Media platforms come to mind. There are some sayings like what you put in your body is what you become. Well, what you run through your ears turns out the same way. This post might help you narrow or focus the voices and authenticate them more clearly.
I’ve had trouble over the years finding the real and authoritative voice in my head and listening more closely to that voice. Two things have narrowed it down for me. Scripture and Nature. I am fond of the quote from Mrs. White, “Nature and revelation alike, testify of God’s love”. COL 394. For me, these two sources are the fountain of wisdom that I try to use to guide my day to day living.
Let’s start with nature and its importance. I would go so far as to say that you cannot understand one without the other. This is especially true of the Old Testament. There are so many references to nature in the land of Israel that ignoring them limits one’s ability to truly grasp the words of God. Think of Ants, or Lions, Eagles or tall trees or grass, rain and the list goes on. The Hebrew writers were steeped in the outdoor world around them and so they wrote about God using the natural world under their feet and in their eyes and ears. Just about everything was a symbol to be used to describe the character of God and His ways. Psalm 1 is a beautiful example.
It should be easy to convince you of the second one, Revelation, God’s word. We often take it for granted that God’s word is the greatest authority in our lives. The trouble comes when we realize that we often act contrary to that authoritative voice. If we read that we should be careful with our words but turn around and speak harshly to others, our mind struggles with matching those two factors up. Cognitive dissonance comes to mind. And eventually, we write off the authoritative voices and substitute our behavior for God’s voice.
So I’ve offered two great places to hear God’s voice, but there are many voices among those two sources that steer us away from the voice of the Shepherd. And our goal is to hear that true, and lovely voice of Jesus Himself.
More on how to find that voice next time, and how to steer clear of pretender voices.
