Whose Voice Do I Hear?

This month, our church is corporately encouraging its members to identify those things that have hindered our relationship and time with God and set them aside in pursuit of reconnecting with our First Love. Each individual is left to personally identify what that thing or what those things are and to find an accountability partner (spouse or friend) to assist with remaining faithful to this endeavor.

For me, it's television and talk radio. The constant flow of babble had become routine in my home and in my car, providing a non-stop stream of conversation and noise that had saturated my mind and spirit in a way I was not really aware of - until I turned it off.

Wow. Quiet, while a welcome change, can be somewhat intimidating. It's more than just the removal of the noise. It's becoming aware of the habit of reaching for the remote or the radio dial and realizing just how accustomed we have become to having this unending backdrop of noise and conversation.

Now, here is the clincher. Once the man-made noise is removed, and quiet is restored in the home and in my spirit, I have found myself unexpectedly quick to hear the voice of One who has been speaking to me all along, but Whose sweet and gentle voice I was unable to hear clearly because of all the audio clutter I had surrounded myself with. Removing it, or at least reducing it to a bare minimum, has already proven to be one of the best decisions I have made in a long time.

So as I embark on this little January journey toward reconnecting with not only my First Love but with myself and with true reality, I have decided to share parts of this journey with you, in the hopes that some part of the revelation that I am anticipating will come will minister to your spirit as it has ministered to mine. I'll be posting excerpts from my journal in the days to come. I believe that when the Lord gives us insights into Him, we are meant to share them.

So for today, a simple encouragement borrowed from one my favorite writers, King David:

"May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,
even as we put our hope in You."
Psalm 33:22