The Voice

Last week, I watched the final result of the show THE VOICE. This television show is where contestants can come and sing in front of a panel of 4 already successful musicians. The catch though is that the panel of musicians have their back to the singer, and they are judged according to their voice and not how they look.

One of the things that I like about this show is that the talent of the those competing is based on what is heard and not what is seen.

Have you ever heard the saying, "children should be seen and not heard?" I used to hear that all of the time when I was growing up. In other words, its great to have kids around but they should be quiet, unless spoken to. But you and I both know that is not how it works. Kids have voices and they are going to use them.

When the kids grow up, guess what? They still have a voice. Adults tend to use their voices inappropriately sometimes. All you have to do is turn on the television or go watch a movie at the theatre to hear what I am talking about.

Have you ever considered what your voice projects? I wonder if we were to go thru life with others looking only at what comes out of our mouths, what would they hear? There is another great saying that I use to hear growing up, "Actions speak louder than words." And this is so true. And inspecting our fruit is very important. But today I am just talking about our voice.

When I worked with teenagers not too long ago at our church, one of the things I learned is that teens feel like they don't have a voice. Adults tend to look down on them. They don't listen to them. They feel like their opinions are not of value.

It's no wonder there is a generation gap. Teens need to be heard. They have a voice. If we would just listen, we might be surprised at what they have to say. But many times we can't get past the long hair, the earrings, the piercings and tattoos. We judge according to what we see and not what we hear.

1 Samuel 16:7 "...For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Often times, I think we, as adult children of God, do the same thing. We look at the visible. We yearn to see proof that God is at work. Instead of just listening to His voice and trusting what He says, we want to see for ourselves how He is working. We look at what we can see instead of what we hear.

"My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand." (John 10:27, 28)

Have you been listening to God's voice?
Even if you can't see the answer to your question, you can still trust what you hear Him say. His voice is THE voice!