Listening to the Right Voice

Jesus went into the wilderness to focus on time with his Father.  But what he got was an intruder who planted doubt and confusion.

How many times have we, brimming with good spiritual intentions, tried to focus on what God wanted to say, only to hear the questioning, undermining voice of our worst enemy?

Like Jesus, I look for quiet places where I reduce attention chaos. My isolated place isn’t a desert; it’s just my sofa in my upstairs office. Yet what is supposed to be a sacred place quickly becomes a place of self-doubt and discouragement because the wrong person is asking the questions.

Whose Voice?

Who are you?  Why do you think you can do this? Where do you think you are headed? What makes you think you’ll get there?

I cannot allow this quiet space to be disrupted by the wrong person speaking. Instead, I must quickly focus on the One I want to hear. 

A Helpful Exercise

One of the most powerful exercises I use is to remind myself who I want to listen to.  I rehearse a litany of God's characteristics. My mind goes to the characteristics I most need from God.  Psalm 103 helps guide my thinking to specific characteristics of God as shared in His Word. The list goes something like this:

You are my Creator, my Protector, my shield, my hiding place, my healer, my redeemer, my all-present, all-knowing, all-seeing One.

When my heart and mind are ready to move forward, I affirm what those characteristics mean to me.

Listening to Right Voice

There is nothing You do not know about me. There is no love You withhold from me. Since You know what will happen, You are the only one who can prepare me for what waits. Your always-right resources are my strength.

That’s the way I refute any enemy voice, including my own. I have learned and keep learning to focus on God's truth. Then, I can receive reprimands, cautions, directions, and affirmations.

There's Always a Wilderness

Today, I don’t walk into a wilderness devoid of people as Jesus did.  I sit surrounded by unfinished tasks, unmet expectations, and a bundle of insecurities.  However, I continue to learn that there is only one voice I want to hear in that quiet place—the voice of my Father.  All other voices, including my own, are intruders.

We all hear wilderness voices that do not help.  However, we can refute them with the truth of God’s Word, just as Jesus did. Then we can enjoy the sweet, calming, reorienting whisper of God, reminding us who we are and whose we are.

May God’s whisper be the voice you listen to first, and may His sweet words bring the most important message of your day:  You are loved without measure!