Inspirations

I love to walk.   One of my favorite places to walk  takes me past a creek not more than a quarter-mile from my house.   The other day, I as was walking,  I decided to stop and sit by the creek.   I crossed the bridge and followed an old dirt path down to the creek. I found a flat rock big enough to sit on  and listened to the water running over the rocks in the creek.   The sound is so soothing and relaxing.   I sat sitting and skipping stones and meditating.    Finally, I decided to continue with my walk.   As I stood to leave and started walking back down the path,   the sound of the creek grew fainter  the farther I walked until by the time I was back on the sidewalk,  it was barely audible.   As I was thinking about this and how sound works,  I was reminded that, in our walk with the Lord,  the closer we are to God the better we can hear his voice. ...

Yesterday while I was in the shower, I heard a young girl say, “Mom, do you have a scrubby?”  I completely ignored the voice.  Then I heard the girl ask the question a second time.  “I don’t think I’m your mother”, I said as I poked my head around the shower curtain.  Then I saw who was speaking and realized that the person in question really was my daughter.  We all laugh at those mistakes.  As I thought about the incident, it reminded me that Jesus says his sheep know his voice.  God wants us to know him so well that when he speaks, we know immediately that it is Jesus; this takes practice and discernment.  God wants us to be so “in tune” with him that we automatically know his voice.  He doesn't need to raise his voice or speak above a whisper. He wants us to be so “in sync” with him that if we hear another voice we will not listen because it’s not the voice we know and love.