Sunday, June 11, 2017

Filtering the Sounds

It was an outstanding day in the upstate. Seeing a promising forecast I decided to make a day trip to the foothills and visit some state parks. My plan was to take a short walk at one park to a waterfall. This area is known for its waterfalls so I was excited and imagining the scene in my head. 


As my son and I walked and I attempted to determine if we were getting close I began to carefully filter through the sounds of the forest. I thought for certain that as we got closer I could differentiate the distinct sound of water flowing mightily over a high point and down into a pool below. Yet, the nearby creek had a sound that could have been the falls. It wasn't until the falls were actually in view that the sound became clearly that of the water making its way down the tiered change of elevation. It was a beautiful sound, relaxing and invigorating at the same time. 

I think that we sometimes struggle to pick out God's voice until we take steps to ensure that we can distinguish His voice from all the others. Wouldn't you agree that many forces are trying to imitate God's voice and lead us astray? We have to be able to filter them out. However, when we do affirm that we indeed hear His voice, isn't it relaxing and invigorating at the same time?

Ignatius of Loyola said “The good angel touches the soul gently, lightly, sweetly, like a drop of water going into a sponge. The evil spirit touches it sharply with noise and disturbance, like a drop of water falling onto a stone.” His voice is powerful and personal.

When we hear God’s voice we’ll recognize that it is Biblical. It will never contradict God’s Word. Bill Gaultiere wrote, “To listen to God is a spiritual discipline. It’s a discipline that we practice alongside of other disciplines like Bible study, meditation, and contemplative forms of prayer. It’s like learning a subject in school or exercise at the gym in that as you gain new knowledge and strength it becomes part of your foundation that helps you to gain still more knowledge and strength. So the more we take God’s Word into us and recognize his hand moving in our life and in our heart the easier it is for us to recognize God’s voice with clarity and confidence going forward.”

Stay close to God’s Word (read and study daily), go to Him daily in prayer because He wants to hear from you, and be ready to take the time to truly listen for God’s voice!

"His faithful love endures forever."

Until next time...

Chaplain Gray


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