God, how do I find your will for my life?
How come I still listen to the wrong voice and make stupid mistakes?
We live in a world with many voices seeking our attention. With all the breaking news, tweets, blogs, podcasts, and compelling advice from Alexa, Siri, Google, and others; we can find it difficult to know which voices to trust.
Sometimes we crowdsource guidance in our lives, thinking the majority will provide the best source of truth. Other times we “halt … between two opinions,” (1Kings 18:21) choosing to be “neither cold nor hot” (Revelation 3:15-16). Still other times we follow what is convenient, focus on a single voice or issue to guide us, or rely exclusively upon our own ability to think.
While each of these approaches can be helpful, experience teaches that they are not always reliable. What is popular is not always what is best. Halting between two opinions brings no direction. Convenience rarely leads to things that matter. Fixation on a single voice or issue can impair our ability to see. And relying solely upon our own thinking can lead us into a hyper-intellectual stupor of thought. If we are not careful, the wrong voices can draw us away from the gospel center to places where faith is difficult to sustain, and we find little more than emptiness, bitterness, and dissatisfaction.
Sometimes if I am quiet and listen, I can hear His voice telling me not to be afraid, that He has a plan for my life. He tells us that we are loved and if He cares for the birds of the air how much more does, He loves us and provides for us.
There are times that I wasn’t willing to sit there quietly and listen to Him speak to my heart and I drove head-first down the wrong path, and something stops me, and I have to start over. Those are times of confusion, doubt, worry, and fear that try to stop me and I have to go back and pray to Jesus seeking His direction for me. I find that, I too, am impatient, selfish, and head strong. If you don’t believe me ask my wife!!!!
To find answers not only should we pray but spend time in His word and learn to trust our hearts and follow His lead. Along the way of life, I have walked through the wrong door in life and have learned to regret that decision. It has to be more than listening to fortune tellers or to the wrong person that does not have our best interest in mind. I have found that if I listen to His quiet still voice and hold His hand, He will guide me to truth, joy, and happiness and peace.
The Bible is the word of God. It will teach us of Jesus Christ, His Atonement for our sins, and His literal resurrection from the dead.
Those are the voices that I listen to. I invite you to do the same.