Scripture: Psalm 25:4-5
Journal: How do you determine the voice of God from all of
the other voices within and around you?
How does listening happen in your life?
How will you make time and space to listen to God?
Reflection: Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you
are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. (Psalm 25:4-5, ESV)
It is difficult, at times, to discern
God’s voice from the many voices around and within us that are constantly
clamoring for our attention and attempting to determine our direction. It’s quite maddening, and can be terribly
confusing unless we take the advice of the psalmist and wait patiently for the
voice of the Lord to rise above the din of all the other voices that
continually assault us.
But waiting patiently is no easy
matter. It will cost us
significantly. Waiting for the Lord
takes time. Listening for God’s voice
takes space. It requires silence and
solitude. It means that we must slow
down, disconnect, and disengage from all of the people and the things that fill
our lives and our hearts with noise and clamor and endless compulsion. It seems like everyone we meet loves us and has a great plan for our lives,
and will gladly tell us exactly what that is if we are willing to give them our
time and attention. But no one else can
tell us who we are supposed to be and what we are supposed to do except the One
who made us. It is his voice alone that
must determine these things. And unless
we listen for his voice we will never know exactly what they are. Unless we are willing to invest the time and
attention necessary to truly hear his still, small voice, we are likely to be
blown around by whim and opinion and circumstance.
That’s where the words of this ancient
prayer offer us help. They ask God to be
the one to determine the way and the path.
For he alone knows the truth, and will gladly tell it to us if we are
willing to listen—and wait.
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