Trusting the Voice

As a part of the New Year, Calvin and I have committed to doing a few things together - First--Get active, me in Pure Barre (special shout out to Calvin & Julie for the 2 months of classes!) and Calvin in running & rock climbing. Second--Blog semi-regularly. Third--Read the Bible in a year by following this great reading plan. We are just a few chapters into the biblical story and oh, how quickly humanity takes a dark turn; murder enters in only the second generation and by Genesis 6 God is ready to wipe out mankind and start over because "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil."

More amazing than how quickly sin so thoroughly contaminates humanity is how encompassing the Lord's grace is. Wastefully gracious really, the kind that its' recipients receive and abuse over and over again. Adam and Eve ate the fruit they were told specifically not to, and then were naked and ashamed? God clothed them. Cain killed his brother Abel? The Lord put a mark on him to protect him from others' revenge. The entire population was evil except for one man? The Lord chose  to save Noah and his family and use them in his redemptive process. Here the Lord entrusts Noah the enormous task of building an ark in preparation for the flood. This thing is going to host 2 of every animal plus Noah's family of 5+ for about a year...this thing is HUGE! I've got a crafty gene in me, so I can appreciate a good project. But if a scarf bombs or the wood stain doesn't hold, I can toss it without any public shame. Noah did not have the same luxury. This ark was visible to the community while under construction, opening Noah to incessant questions & public ridicule for what probably seemed pretty ludicrous to onlookers. I'm sure at times Noah needed the Lord's reassurance as he was building. So what was it that drove Noah to be obedient to God's words rather than those he heard from others? He trusted the speaker.

Jesus beautifully exemplifies the same trust in Matthew 4, where he endures Satan's temptation in the wilderness. Satan cunningly tempts Jesus by twisting God's Word, yet Jesus knows the Author & refutes the lie with God's truth. The same Word quoted, but different voices speaking. Jesus, like Noah, knew God's character, his intentions, his goodness. They both knew that He is trustworthy, so they could trust what he asked. The Bible talks about this as knowing and trusting the Shepherd's voice.

We are constantly bombarded with messages, whether in word, picture, advertisement, or subtext. The deciding factor of what we listen to is if we trust the voice.

Let's commit 2013 to be one of listening. He is good and abundantly gracious, let's renew our ears to trust the goodness of His voice.