The Voice of God

"He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing." C. Austin Miles

This morning, I spent some time putting away and de-wrinkling the clothes I had so carelessly left in the dryer overnight. I was listening to the story of Hosea on my laptop, beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel as my laundry pile got smaller and smaller, and unaware how God would use these meaningless, tedious life tasks to teach me.

Each time I stepped into my closet to put an article of clothing away, I wasn't able to hear the story of Hosea that was coming out of my laptop. In terms of science, it was simple. I was entering into a place were it took a little more work for the sound waves to penetrate. In terms of hearing quality, the story became dull, the words hard to make out, and the susceptibility of distraction far higher than when I was out of my closet. In came the teaching moment.

Much like Isaiah 30:21, it was as if there was a tiny voice behind me that said, "It's hard to hear my voice when you're in darkness." BAM! It's so true! How many times have we yearned for God, pleaded for His presence, and longed for His closeness all while comfortably sitting in the darkness we've allowed into our lives? While it is very true that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8), our reluctance to take up the cross and follow Christ is not somehow merited (Mark 8:34). YES, we may seek God in the darkness, but NO, we cannot expect Him to meet us as we idly sit in our sin because God is light and darkness cannot be found in Him (1 John 1:5).

And so we seek. But are we seeking from a seat of sin or willing feet? To which side of us is darkness? Is darkness at our front as we fall deeper into it or is it at our back as we pursue Light? The voice of God is able to be heard, however, it will be far harder to hear Him if we're surrounded by walls of darkness. So instead of asking for God to speak louder, step out into the Light. His voice will be clearer and the life sweeter.