"A Voice I did not know said to me:
'I freed your shoulder from the burden;
you hands were freed from the load.
You called in distress and I saved you. . ." (psalm 81)
Have you heard a voice you did not know? Perhaps at times it spoke from scripture. At others from life itself. Have you heard the proclamation of your freedom, or has the din of all around you drowned out the voice that would speak to you?
Most of us like to think we've heard God speak. We'd like to think that we know His will. But we deceive ourselves. Often we hear our own wishes speak, we hear our innermost desires articulated. The voice is all too familiar because it is our own.
But wait upon the Lord, tarry a minute or two and be surprised at what jumps out at you. Look out the kitchen window as you work. Pause in the labor of the day and attune your ear to what there is to be heard. The voice of the winter morning, the cry of the bird, the song of cloud and snow and rain, and soon the voice of spring. All these sing His praises for they cannot do otherwise. Wait and listen and the Voice of God will speak--from scripture or from life.
And how will you know its message? The freedom it proclaims wells up from the soul and floods all of life. The joy that comes cannot be repressed. The voice will be unfamiliar, not your own repeated inner longing--rather the proclamation of life itself. The voice of God speaks and burdens are lifted--self-imposed shackles are cut off and we are freed.
Do not pause to refit the shackles (something we're all too good at). Take this voice at its Word--Love incarnate. What He says is truth and life and love. Embrace it and turn toward it.
