Encouragement

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It was a warm August morning. I was taking a walk in my development, and as I was walking I heard the usual sounds of birds chirping as they bantered back and forth to each other. Their songs were so familiar that I wasn’t really listening at all, but was lost in my own thoughts. After about five minutes I heard a bird whose song was completely unique to the others. It jarred me out of my daydreaming state and caused me to slow my pace. It was a beautiful song, repeated over and over in exactly the same tune. As I kept walking it began to fade. Once again the throngs of ordinary birds with their ordinary songs became the back drop to my shuffling feet. Part of my route took me on a loop that brought me back to the same location where I heard that beautiful song. As I was nearing the spot, I began listening for him. At first I couldn’t hear him, just the same symphony of birds that were so familiar. I slowed my pace in expectation and I was rewarded to the sound of the song that stood out from all the others. I heard him proudly belt out the notes to his music. I was so pleased with this simple experience of nature. I immediately thought about how God’s voice is to me. I need to slow down and be quiet to hear Him, blocking out all the other sounds. His voice isn’t always obvious, but when listening carefully it is distinctive and the beauty of it stirs my soul to keep listening. The Lord brought to my mind this verse:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they will follow Me.”
John 10:27

A while back, my husband and I had to make a tough decision. I found myself thinking about it all the time, playing it over and over in my mind. God reminded me right then to stop striving and know that He is God. I was carrying things He never intended for me to carry, but to simply trust Him. I needed to remove all the other noise so I could hear God’s beautiful voice speak to me. The words of a hymn came to my mind as I was thinking about these truths, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace”. Oh, the things I think are important are so often what God calls rubbish. When my eyes are on Jesus, and I’m listening for Him, I see His character and glory. Nothing else can compare. It gives an order to my life and letting go of the things of earth make perfect sense when I see a glimpse of God.

“Cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth”
Psalm 46:10

The more time I spend with God, the better I will be able to distinguish His voice.

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