The Voice To Listen To

"When I listen to the voice of a problem

 more than I listen to the voice of the Lord, 

faith will always be an uphill battle." 

Bill Johnson

Sometimes the voice of the problem is so loud.....for me a medical report....the doctor's diagnosis.....the treatment drugs...... a lament from within that pours out of a place of discouragement or fear.  Yeah.  Sometimes the voice of the problem and the difficulties of life are so darn loud!  But..........

God's voice?  Powerful.  Promising.  Purposeful.  Comforting.  Wise. Victorious no matter what.   He sometimes whispers, but I have found His voice to be firm, steady and quiet.  A kind of quiet that resonates, shifting the atmosphere around and within us.  A kind of quiet that is somehow loud.  Louder than the voices of the problems.

So hard to do, this focusing on God and off of the cancer, or heart disease, or broken relationships, or financial brokenness.  Yet God's Word often speaks to us about doing just that.  It is written that HE is our Lord and our God.  It is written that we will be in perfect peace when our minds are focused on Jesus because we trust in Him.  It is written in His promises like the one I have held on to for seven years...... I will give you back your health and heal your wounds.  So many promises.

A voice is a powerful weapon for good.  We speak life or death with our tongue, as the Bible says.  There is something about voicing out loud the scriptures. Something about making declarations that build hope the way we build a wall.........one solid brick at a time.

The voice of the problem pales and weakens when we focus on Jesus as our Healer. When we bend our ear to hear the Father's Voice, peace fills our soul.  Maybe for a moment, for an hour, for a day...but it is always available to us if we let it speak louder than the problem.  God truly desires to be in a close relationship with His children.  Bending our ear to hear His Voice opens that door to our heart and strengthens our faith.