A young boy, no more than 8 years old, was walking through a local department store… dragging his feet, rolling his eyes, and complaining of trying on clothes for the upcoming school year.  After wrestling on another pair of jeans, the torture was finally over.  The boy’s mother told him to go look through the toys while she continued to shop.  As he strolled to the toy isle, something in the floor caught his eye.  Lying in the floor, unwrapped, lonely, and begging for a home in a pocket… was the coolest action figure ever known to the human race.  The voices began to race through the young man’s head… “pick it up!”,  ”finder’s keeper’s”, “it’s not mine”, “it would be stealing”, “it obviously doesn’t belong here, it’s out of the box”, “walk away”, “put it in your pocket”.

The young man reached down… picked up the toy… glanced side to side… and put it in his pocket.

I find it strange that followers of Jesus Christ often sit and long to hear God’s voice.  Does you neck ever get sore from staring at the heavens… waiting on a flash of lightening and a booming voice that cracks out of the night sky?  Sadly, there are so many Christians that sit immobilized, waiting on God‘s voice… that they miss the blessing of life He’s built just for them.

Remember when Elijah sat on the mountain in a cave… waiting on God to speak to him?

¹¹ The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  - 1 Kings 19:11-13 (NIV)

I have sat and listened to countless Christians say they have never heard the voice of God.  I’ve heard a few confess that they don’t believe He still speaks to us… and the only place you can hear Him is through Scripture.  I will stand and testify that I hear God’s voice… regularly…and I’m not a super Christian.  For Elijah, he needed to hear God in a small, still voice.  For me, I’ve heard God through scripture, I’ve heard Him in my prayers, and I’ve heard Him when making difficult decisions.  I pray for Him to speak… that I need His guidance.

When the young boy walked outside of the small department store with the ill found item in his pocket… a voice of truth piereced his little heart and he stopped his mother and nervously said, “hey mom, look what I found in the store… just lying on the floor”.  He pulled the action figure out of his pocket and his mother said… “what have you done?  Did you steal that?”  The boy replied, “No… it was just lying there… not in a box.”  His mother then said, “it isn’t yours…you took it…you stole it.”  She then prompted the young man to take it back inside.  He returned to the scene of the crime and laid the action figure on the floor where he found it.

Every day, we wrestle with the voices we hear.  There are voices that tell you to “sit down boy… you’ll never win”.  There are giants in your life that point and laugh at your little efforts to throw stones.  There are voices that convince you that deviant behavior is ok if no one knows about it.  But if you believe in Jesus Christ, you can rest assured that He is there at every turn. Jesus Christ is telling you stand proud… victory is already in your hands.  Jesus Christ is telling you that a giant is nothing compared to the power of the Creator who is fighting for you. Jesus Christ is telling you that those little “hidden things” are breaking the heart of God… and that He didn’t create you to destroy yourself.

Listen to the voice of truth.  Listen for God’s voice in your life.  He is speaking to you and offering you peace, contentment, and joy by guiding your decisions to live for him.  I’ll never forget the feeling of guilt when I walked out of that department store… the boy was me… a theif.  Thankfully, God was in my corner… urging me to confess my burden so I could make it right.  His voice came through my mom… and I heard Him.

May you listen for the voice of Truth.  You’ve heard it… now respond to it.

Peace,
Greg Arnold
Acts 4:31
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